Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Lancashire

Unique reference number SC456535 Inspection date 11/10/2013 Inspector Stephen Trainor Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 14/03/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is privately run and is registered for up to one young person with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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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 young people receive a good standard of care and this means they commit to their placements, work hard, and learn how to take responsibility for their behaviour. Young people resident have lived at the home for what they consider to be a 'long time' and they clearly recognise this as their home where they feel safe.

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Overall effectiveness

The responsible organisation operating the service changed between inspections. There was no negative impact on the service and virtually everything has remained the same. One significant difference is that the young people show far greater commitment to their plans. Young people present at this inspection are happy to be living at the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people have embraced their learning and development opportunities. Young people continuously achieve and develop from the consistent support and approaches they receive from an experienced staff team. The views of the young people are clearly being listened to.

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Overall effectiveness

Relationships between young people and staff are good and young people show that they value difference. There are good safeguarding arrangements for residents through clear and agreed strategies, protocols, risk assessments and placement plans. Young people are now making better lifestyle choices. Assessment records did not make it clear when risk reduced through sustained positive behaviours.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people living at the home reflect on their behaviours and continue to develop self-knowledge and skills suited for their futures. Young people are making safer decisions when they are out in the wider community. Young people occasionally display some negative behaviour but this is positively addressed and incidents have reduced considerably. Strategies and incentives adopted change behaviours positively.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are cared for by a capable and motivated team of staff. The promotion of young people's health and well-being is managed well but little work had been completed to support knowledge around sexual health and a successful outcome had not yet been achieved as a result of smoking cessation work.

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Overall effectiveness

The young people are relaxed within their home. The home's environment is supportive and underpinned by defined boundaries. Young people are involved in decision making that impacts on all aspects of their lives. Recreational interests are supported well. Young people’s commitment is clearly evident through their school attendance. This service has a positive impact on the lives of young people and improves their future prospects.

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Overall effectiveness

The home's aims and objectives are being fulfilled. Monitoring reports carried out under the requirements of Regulation 33 and 34 provide analysis and evaluation of events at the home. Quality assurance checks on the whole do demonstrate the capacity to plan continuous improvements. A small number of records need to be more accurate. A written audit linked to a personnel file was not as comprehensive as it should have been. The rationale and decision to appoint when staff have convictions was not as clear as it could have been. A range of professionals, agencies and parents provided positive comments and agreed that the service provides a good quality of care and this helps to keep young people safe. Not all of these comments are being recorded.

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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 the system for recruiting staff and others includes an effective systems for reaching decisions as to who is to be appointed and the circumstances under which an application should be refused; specifically, maintain a robust written audit detailing key decisions and clear rationale when staff who have criminal convictions or cautions are employed (NMS 16.5)  ensure the views of social workers, independent reviewing officers and other professionals supporting placements are sought regularly and these views are recorded (NMS 1.4)  ensure children understand their health needs, how to maintain healthy lifestyle and to make informed decisions about their own health; in particular, personal social health education matters are addressed in more detail by both education and social care (NMS 6.2)  ensure the home implements a proportionate response to risk assessment; specifically, records clearly show a reduction in risk where there is sustained

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Recommendations

positive behaviours (NMS 4.5)  ensure the systems in place used to monitor the quality and adequacy of record keeping is robust enough to identify all gaps and take action when needed. (NMS 22.1)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people experience stable placements and make significant progress in many areas, including in their social presentation, self-awareness and taking responsibility for their behaviour. As a result, young people develop and mature. Young people confirm that they are very happy living at the home and consider themselves to have made significant progress. This is particularly clear when young people talk about their future prospects as a result of their hard work and achievements in education. Young people have grown in confidence and recognise that the experience of living at the home has changed their lives. This is clearly evident in keeping young people safe.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have a clear understanding of their plans and arrangements and are capable of making responsible decisions. They cooperate with their plans and this results in them being in a very good position to fulfil their potential. Young people achieve personal goals and this helps them to develop a better understanding and appreciation of their personal circumstances. Young people can motivate themselves, especially to attend meetings, where they express their views with some confidence. Each young person has clear aspirations and believes that they have secured a better future as a result of the time they have spent at the home.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people living at the home are treated fairly and staff practice supports their individual needs. There is genuine affection and mutual respect between young people and staff. The young people gain tremendous benefits from the high levels of emotional support they receive from staff. There are occasions when young people do challenge boundaries but there has been a clear reduction in risk-taking behaviours.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people show enthusiasm about their in-house education and work hard to complete their timetable. Young people's willingness to engage has resulted in vastly improved attendance. Young people have grown in confidence through their range of learning experiences, including a visit to a local special school. More options are being considered to enhance learning opportunities. Young people's personal effectiveness continuously grows. Young people have benefitted from improved contact arrangements including an opportunity to stay at a friend’s house overnight.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy good health and mostly choose to adopt healthy lifestyles. They take responsibility for their health and make clear links between diet and exercise. Regular activities ensure they remain physically active. All young people are familiar with their health arrangements and are aware of the contents of their health plans. Young people usually select to attend their appointments with health professionals. Staff encourage engagement, whenever necessary, with mental health professionals. As young people mature more work is needed to ensure they understand key health risks associated with risk taking behaviours such as smoking, illegal substance and alcohol use and sexual health risks.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy good relationships with staff which enable them to engage positively and make good choices, for example, getting the best from their placement. Staff are skilled and show an insight into and an understanding of young people’s needs. As a result, young people appreciate and value the efforts of staff and work closely with them to plan their futures. Young people confirm, 'Rules are fair most of the time.'

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Quality of care

Quality assessment and planning takes place resulting in specific needs being met. Young people’s progress is charted and recorded within placement plan evaluations. Social workers receive regular progress updates. All achievements are celebrated and this continuously builds young people's self-esteem. A social worker commented that the young person she had responsibility for had, 'Made terrific progress through effective staff practice.' Encouragingly the placing authority also confirmed at a recent statutory review that placement funding was secured for the foreseeable future. This was mainly due to the commitment shown and progress made by the young person. The young person will gain many benefits from this permanency planning.

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Quality of care

Staff are professional and engage with the young people and partners supporting them in their placements. Young people’s personalities prosper and they also retain a good sense of humour despite having to live far away from their home towns. Young people’s views are consistently gathered and these influence the home's operation and future direction. Young people are involved in decision making that impacts on all aspects of their lives. Young people continue to build their emotional resilience to the challenges they face.

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Quality of care

Staff work well in partnership with many different professionals and agencies to implement plans. The overall response being taken to support young people’s needs is good. All work is at the pace ideally suited to the individual child. Consistent practice eliminates any potential confusion about the arrangements in place for young people. Communication between staff, young people and their parents, social workers and other professionals is effective but there has been limited success in capturing these views in writing.

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Quality of care

Each young person's educational potential is supported by proactive staff practice. The home’s philosophy of care successfully promotes the development of young people’s educational potential. Care staff continuously emphasise the importance of young people gaining the best education. Young people have an individual education plan that is now working in practice. Latest attendance figures show a considerable improvement. Young people show that they can be punctual and prepared for their lessons.

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Quality of care

Young people understand how to make a complaint. They confirm that complaints, if made, are responded to in full. Two minor matters had been addressed between inspections. A written guide covers complaints, with information, guidance and contact details of agencies such as Ofsted, children's rights and the Children's Rights Director. Young people can differentiate between grumbles and serious complaints. Young people have skills to sort out minor matters positively with staff. This includes through discussion or by raising matters during in-house meetings.

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Quality of care

Healthy lifestyles are promoted. The looked after nurse carries out the annual medical check-up. Medication is stored safely, and records are maintained on the administration of medication, including prescribed and non-prescription medication. There are clear policies and procedural guidance and these are followed in practice. All staff receive suitable training to support health and well-being and this maintains the quality of care being provided.

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Quality of care

Staff engage young people in a range of activities to develop young people’s individual potential. A good balance between organised activities and young people's free time supports their future independence. Young people have satisfactory resources within the home. Holidays are linked to incentive programmes and these influence young people’s behaviours positively. A foreign holiday is planned for next year and this is keeping young people very focussed.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people confirm that they feel safe living at the home. They learn to accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative and understand how they contribute to the home's operation. Young people develop skills that enable them to differentiate their behaviour according to the different settings and situations they find themselves in. Young people positively contribute to the home's relaxed atmosphere. This is a notable 'transformation' between inspections.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people say that bullying is not an issue of concern to them when living at the home or in the surrounding community. Well-coordinated safeguarding work supports children in making choices on how to lead their lives. Staff receive regular training to update their knowledge and have a good understanding of safeguarding policies, procedures and actions they should take when an incident arises; this allows young people to live in a safe and friendly environment. There is very good interaction and sensible discussion around difference, allowing members of the peer group to maintain a positive self-view.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people have suitable safeguarding information and have learnt to make safer decisions about who they spend their time with. Policy and procedural guidance is consistent with that of the local safeguarding team's protocols. Relationships are established with the safeguarding Local Area Designated Officer. There have been no safeguarding matters between inspections.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Systems for dealing with young people who go missing from home are well established and a protocol is set out. Risk assessments take account of a young person's potential to go missing. Reports made to local police are in line with the established protocol. Young people show that they can make positive lifestyle choices resulting in the number of reports being drastically reduced. The home's records did not show the sustained positive behaviours that young people had managed meaning risk assessments were not factually accurate. The home's management attend meetings with the local police force's missing from home coordinator to review matters affecting the home. Management review all incidents. Young people have the opportunity to reflect on incidents they are involved in and this helps them to change behaviours. The local police confirm that effective safeguarding practice is consistently demonstrated. There are still occasions when young people select to

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Safeguarding children and young people

return late. Phone contact is maintained whenever possible in these circumstances.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There are no concerns relating to how the home manages the young people’s behaviour. Young people respond well to praise and rewards and this lessens the need for disciplinary measures. Staff are clear that physical intervention is very much a last resort. There were no such incidents between inspections. All staff receive regular and refresher training in positive handling techniques.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people benefit from a permanent, experienced and stable staff team. There had been one change to the staff team between inspections. Some specific checks on managing new staff who reveal criminal convictions or cautions prior to interview were undertaken. An audit trail for a personnel file did not provide comprehensive coverage at each stage of the decision making process before final sign off. The responsible organisation had changed the recording format since this post was agreed and is clear on the need to provide the fullest possible details. Past recruitment practice had been robust, ensuring only suitable people work with young people. Equally good practice ensures the effective vetting of visitors to safeguard young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Health and safety issues are managed well, ensuring young people and staff remain safe. Regular servicing of equipment and routine safety checks maintain a safe environment. Young people know what to do in the case of an emergency and can exit the home safely. Staff implement a range of risk assessments to identify and minimise hazards. There is an audit of health and safety matters carried out on an annual basis.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good .

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager works with the responsible authority placing the young people at the home to ensure effective sharing of information. Further enhancements have been made to the home's practice between inspections. Placements are stable. There is a clear vision for how the home should operate and achieving positive outcomes remains central to all practice. Two specific conditions, linked to the home's reregistration at the start of the year are soon to be removed by Ofsted.

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Leadership and management

Young people develop meaningful and lasting attachments because of the supportive management culture and the hard work of the staff. Young people are gaining benefits from experiences provided by a competent staff team. It is a strong, child- focused service that is conducive to young people developing and maximising their potential. Clear partnership arrangements underpin all practice and there is good satisfaction with the quality of services provided. Staff are responsive to the specific needs and specific circumstances affecting both young people and their families.

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Leadership and management

This service is managed by an experienced and qualified manager. All partners confirm communication is effective. Views expressed by partners are not always being captured in writing and this can restrict improvements being identified and weaken the management’s evidence base. Staff morale is good and energy levels high. Now that young people have committed to their placement staff can 'go that extra mile.' This means young people can now gain optimum benefits from the time they are living at the home.

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Leadership and management

The young people have full confidence in the staff and know who is responsible for them at all times of the day and night. Staffing levels are maintained. There is no use of agency staff. Shift patterns ensure continuity with routines and procedures. The staff team is consistently supportive, attentive and sensitive to the care they provide for young people.

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Leadership and management

Records at this home show good clarity in how staff are managed. Staff confirm that supervision is taking place. There is access to training and a training attended overview record is maintained. Systems for staff’s personal development and appraisals are established and this helps staff to further enhance their skills sets. Staff's performance is evaluated by the manager and individual objectives are set.

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Leadership and management

Practice is developed by a management team that is perceptive in identifying the home's strengths and the areas where it could perform better. A written and verbal self-assessment of the service was provided. All levels of staff influence and shape the service with their ideas and initiatives. Some creative working practices were outlined. The home's Registered Manager identified the need to ensure better accuracy with the information presented in some records presented at this inspection.

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Leadership and management

The home's management team reflect on their practice and the home's operation. Reports produced following visits to the home under the requirements of Regulations 33 and 34 are sent to Ofsted within the required timescale. The impact and value that living at this home has had on young people’s lives is made clear within these records. Also as part of the quality assurance approach there are some key performance indicators that help to monitor the home's operation. These are clearly linked to the home's development plan supporting continuous development.

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Leadership and management

Recommendations set at the last inspection were only reviewed in a general sense due to the home being re-registered between inspections. Progress with school attendance had been made and young people were clearly being helped to achieve educational goals. Behaviour had improved, engagement with plans and cooperation extended to staff had all increased significantly. Young people’s social and emotional developmental needs are being met.

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Leadership and management

There is a system in place to notify persons and appropriate authorities of the occurrence of significant events. One notification was reported. Internal and external support was provided on the dangers of illegal substances. No complaints were investigated by Ofsted between inspections. A record is maintained on two internal complaints made by young people and this includes a written response on the action taken in resolving these matters. Both were addressed to young people’s satisfaction.

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Leadership and management

Staff practice is supported by written guidance, policies and procedures. Information is written in plain English. The home's Statement of Purpose provides information in accordance with regulations. The ethos and culture established fulfils the service’s aims and objectives and allows young people to build a great deal of resilience against the many challenges they face as they work towards securing a brighter future.

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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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