Children's Home run by Break Charity in Cambridgeshire

Unique reference number SC439153 Inspection date 05/11/2013 Inspector Stephen Halliley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 06/02/2013 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 home is registered to provide care and accommodation for four children or young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a registered charity.

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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

Young people make very significant progress in many areas of their lives while living in this home. The progress from their starting points, even in the short while some young people have been living here, is testament to the settled nature of the home and the consistent support provided by staff.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people each have detailed care plans which are highly individualised. Young people have a great deal of input into the preparation and production of these plans. This ensures staff are very aware of how best to work with each young person to meet their needs and promote positive outcomes.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are engaging extremely well with education and are making great strides in terms of their achievements. Exams are currently being taken in a range of subjects and young people have clear ideas of the areas in which they would ultimately like to work. This is very well supported by staff who unfailingly transport young people to college and attend meetings with schools to ensure placements are maintained.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people say they get on well with staff and that they are safe in the home. Relationships between staff and young people are strong and it is clear the ethos of the staff is that they will do everything they can to ensure young people have a positive experience of living in the home. Young people respond well to this and are clear they are well cared for. Staff ensure young people are kept safe through risk assessments, regular, robust health and safety checks and by ensuring young people are given the correct level of supervision as they begin to gain independence. The Registered Manager is very aware of the strengths of the home and has worked hard to ensure continued improvement of the service provided. He has ensured that the shortfalls noted at the last inspection have been addressed.

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Overall effectiveness

This is a good home with some very strong elements to their service, especially the quality of care provided to young people. However, shortfalls were noted around the recording of sanctions and administration of medicines and there were missing staff signatures on some missing from home reports. Additionally minor shortfalls were identified in the clarity of some recording, the appropriateness of one sanction given and the robustness of the monitoring of the home.

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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

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, discipline or restraint a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose which shall include the date, time, location and effectiveness of the use of the measure and confirmation the child involved has been spoken to about the use of the measure (Regulation 17B (3) (d) (f) (h)) 30/11/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the registered person maintains a written record of the administration of any medicine to any child (Regulation 21 (2) (c )) 30/11/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the registered person maintains in respect of each child accommodated in the home a record in permanent form which is signed and dated by the author of each entry; this is particularly in respect of records made when children are missing from the home (Regulation 28 (1) (c ) schedule 3.10) 30/11/2013

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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 sanctions and rewards for behaviour are clear, reasonable and fair and are understood by all staff and children (NMS 3.8)  ensure written records kept by the home when a child goes missing detail action taken by staff, the circumstances of the child's return, any reasons given by the child for running away from the home and any action taken in light of those reasons (NMS 5.10)  ensure management of the home ensures all staff's work is consistent with regulations, national minimum standards and the home's policies and procedures; this is with particular regard to completing missing from home records, sanction records and signing all entries. (NMS 21.3)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make positive progress in many areas of their lives while living in this home. In terms of educational attendance and achievement, social interactions, developing self-confidence and family contact all young people have made very significant progress form their starting points.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are positive in their views about the home and understand the issues which have led to them living here. Young people demonstrate a very positive self- image in terms of their appearance and confidence in their abilities. This was clearly demonstrated in food preparation which was carried out with the minimum of staff support and in discussions about exams to be taken and future plans. Young people have high aspirations for themselves and these are fully supported by staff.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are able to reflect on their placement history, their changing needs and how their needs are currently met. This continuing development of emotional maturity and resilience leads to them giving considered thought to their futures and having a realistic yet challenging view of where they want their lives to take them in terms of further education or career paths.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are generally in good health. They have a clear awareness of their responsibility for living a healthy lifestyle and ensure they create a weekly menu which has a good balance of all food groups. Physical activities, such as boxing, swimming and playing football, help support young people remaining in good health. Some young people smoke and staff have actively worked with them to understand the associated health hazards and have made referrals to stop smoking clinics. While some young people have responded well to this others have been less willing to reduce the amount they smoke. All young people have regular access to a range of health professionals to ensure their physical health is well catered for.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people attend school or college and attendance levels are very high. A range of courses are currently being taken including equine care, GCSE courses and more vocational skills such as bricklaying and carpentry. This ensures young people are taking the courses they wish to follow, are learning in the way best suited to their learning styles and are making very good progress.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are actively involved in planning activities, holidays, menus and in the decoration of the home. One young person says 'I painted my bedroom myself and put pictures up to make it individual to me. I am happy here and looking forward to staying another couple of years.' This shows that young people are happy in the home and are having a clear impact on the way the home looks and is run. Young people have good access to the wider community and have been involved in voluntary work, fund raising for charity and also having part time jobs. This ensures young people are further developing social and life skills, develop an awareness of the needs of others and continue to improve their sense of self-esteem.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Family contact is highly individualised and follows plans and agreements which are in place with social workers and family members. Young people comment that 'I see my family often enough and am happy with the level of contact we have' and 'I am happy with the contact arrangements in place.' This ensures young people are able to maintain those relationships which are important to them and that they are aware of their places in their families.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people learn and develop life skills at rates appropriate to their levels of understanding and abilities. Skills developed include budgeting, shopping, cooking, laundry, independent travel, and household chores. Young people were seen to take part very successfully in a range of these activities clearly showing they are developing a skill set which will serve them well in their future placements.

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Quality of care

Young people get on well with staff and for some of them this is the first time they have had appropriate adult role models of both genders in their lives. Staff are very aware of gender issues affecting some young people's views of female staff and work consistently to challenge these perceptions and provide strong role models of both genders on shift whenever possible. Relationships within the group of young people are developing as a new group of young people get to know each other. There are no issues around bullying and young people appear very tolerant of each other and their individual traits.

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Quality of care

Young people are clear their views, wishes and feelings are actively sought and acted upon by staff. One young person says 'Staff listen really well to what we have to say and respond to us well ensuring they meet my needs and everyone else's as much as they can.' Group meetings provide a very open forum for discussion and ideas to be put forward and young people are very actively involved in these. This ensures their views are aired and plans can be put in place which are shared and known by everybody. Should young people not be happy with the responses they receive or with any issue within the home they are well aware of how to make a complaint. One young person has done so recently and clear records show this was looked into, addressed and clear feedback given before all parties signed off the form to say they were satisfied with the resolution. This open approach ensures young people feel able to air their grievances and concerns and they are sure staff will respond to them

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Quality of care

in a timely and efficient manner. Young people have detailed care plans which provide highly individualised information on how to work with them and are actively encouraged and supported to contribute to these plans. Placement plans are clear and include a contribution by young people on their wishes about their longer term plans. Young people are able to share with staff aspects of their lives and the feelings these create for them. They have then shared with staff their thoughts on how to work with them to best mange these thoughts and feelings. This collaborative approach ensures young people are fully involved in planning their care and that staff are responding to the young people's needs in the most appropriate manner. 'Journey books' are completed in consultation with young people and allow them to make a record of their time in the home. These include pictures of activities they have been involved in, friends they

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Quality of care

have made, holidays they have been on and significant achievements such as ironing, laundry, cleaning rooms, cooking, shopping. This supports their development of independent living skills, ensures a consistent picture of achievement is developed and reinforces feelings of self-esteem and self-worth.

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Quality of care

Young people's health care needs are given a high priority in this home. There are good procedures in place for the administration of medication and systems for recording when medication may not have been given and why, for example when young people are missing from the home. On one occasion there is no record of medication being given to a young person though the audit check indicates that it was. This has been looked into by managers but there has been no record made of the administration of this medication following this investigation. Young people have regular check ups with doctors, dentists and opticians to ensure they remain in good physical health. Clinical psychologists are attached to the social care team and they attend team meetings periodically to advise staff on how to work with young people and to support staff to manage new behaviours. Young people also have ready access to these professionals should there be a need for this input and this ensures

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Quality of care

that young people's emotional and psychological health needs are also well met.

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Quality of care

Young people are consistently well supported to ensure they attend education and to achieve to their potential. Staff unfailingly transport young people to college placements where no other transport is available and attend meetings with educational providers to ensure young people's needs are being fully met. The home has very strong links with the schools and colleges attended by young people and this allows for good partnership work to be carried out to ensure educational placements are maintained.

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Quality of care

The layout of this home allows young people to have space should they need it while still being able to access communal areas rather than being in their rooms. The home is very well decorated and maintained. Young people are clearly investing in this home through decorating their own rooms, keeping the house tidy and not damaging the home in any way.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe. Young people report that they feel safe in this home. They are kept safe and protected from harm or accidental injury by a range of regular health and safety checks regularly being carried out and through the use of clear, detailed and individualised risk assessments.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are given initial fire induction training when they arrive in the home and take part in regular fire drills. Additionally each young person has a laminated copy of the escape routes in case of fire provided in their room which is normally kept in the chest of drawers so as not to be intrusive or appear institutionalised. This ensures young people are fully aware of what actions they should take in case of emergency.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There have been 65 recorded incidents of young people being absent from the home without permission since the last inspection. However 50 of these relate to a young person who has since moved on to a more secure setting because it was realised this home were unable to keep her as safe as they would have liked. Each young person has an individualised missing from home protocol in place with the local police. This link is exceptionally strong and the joined up working between the home and police has been instrumental in reducing the number of missing from care episodes in recent months. Records made when young people go missing detail the consistent lengths staff go to in order ensure a prompt and safe return for young people. However, in some cases the description of circumstances of the young person's return and the reasons given for this absence is not clear. Additionally some records have not been signed by staff who have made the entry.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Positive behaviour management and supporting young people to self-regulate their behaviours is a clear strength of this home. There have been no physical interventions with young people since the last inspection and only 11 sanctions given. Some sanction records do not indicate the date on which the consequence is to be imposed, especially where this is different to the date of the behaviour for which the sanction was given. Examples of such sanctions are reparation for damages where this should be recorded clearly so it is well known to staff and the young person when this consequence will begin and when it will be completed. Additionally some omissions are noted in the recording of the effectiveness of the sanction and whether young people have been spoken to following the sanction being put in place. One financial sanction was given for inappropriate behaviour but this was cancelled by the Registered Manager and he has discussed in supervision

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Safeguarding children and young people

and team meetings the need for all sanctions given to be fair and appropriate. There have been several consequences recorded as the home moves towards a more restorative approach to managing inappropriate behaviour. This has led to young people being able to reflect upon how their behaviour has impacted on others and to make good the damage done by their behaviours to their relationships with peers and staff.

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Safeguarding children and young people

All staff are subject to rigorous checks and vetting before they take up employment within the home. Visitors are required to sign the visitors' book and are chaperoned at all times when young people are in the home. This ensures young people are kept safe from potential harm or abuse being perpetrated by adults who work with them or who visit the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There have been no allegations or suspicions of harm or abuse in this home. Staff are fully aware of their role and responsibilities should allegations or disclosures be made. Staff are also fully aware of the whistleblowing policy and how this should be implemented should they have concerns about colleague's practice. Together with the Registered Manager's awareness of when issues should be referred to outside agencies such as Ofsted or safeguarding boards this ensures young people are responded to consistently and appropriately should they make allegations or disclosures of harm or abuse.

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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

This home is efficiently and effectively led by a Registered Manager and deputy who are passionate about providing high quality child care.

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Leadership and management

The home been running for less than two years but continues to make progress and improvements in the way it is run. Recent achievements include supporting young people to have an average school attendance rate in excess of 93%, involving young people in the recruitment of new staff and improved relationships with the local community through fundraising work for local charities. Each of these areas has a positive impact on young people's self-esteem and sense of achievement.

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Leadership and management

There were one requirement and two recommendations made at the last inspection. These have all been addressed by the Registered Manager.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose is clear and gives a good indication of the services the home intend to provide for young people. Young people are fully aware of what they can expect from the home and feel that they are safe, well cared for and that they are being fully supported to achieve their targets and to develop skills for independent living.

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Leadership and management

This home is monitored on a monthly basis by the Registered Manager and an external visitor. Reports from the external visitor are clear and have begun to show clear consultation with parents. This has been a developmental area as the home does not have direct contact with some parents for legal reasons. The manager's monitoring is detailed and clear and covers a vast range of areas which impact on the care the home provides. Neither monitoring system has been sufficiently robust so as to pick up the omissions in recording and staff signatures mentioned elsewhere in this report.

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager is well aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He believes areas of strength include the 'fantastic looking and well presented home', the 'very committed staff team who understand the ethos of what we do and why we are doing it' and the placement matching and induction process in place for new referrals to the home. He feels a comparative area of weakness to be that 'sometimes we cannot adapt our service to fully meet the changing needs of some young people and they have had to move to other, more therapeutic or semi-secure environments in order to keep them safe and help them develop.' This is an indication of the desire to provide high quality care but also recognises the fact that this home may not be the most appropriate placement for all young people.

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Leadership and management

The management team support the staff through induction, regular supervision, appraisal and training. All staff are well trained and undertake training in safeguarding, behaviour management, first aid, food hygiene, fire safety as part of the induction process or during their probationary period. This ensures staff are equipped with the appropriate skills to care for young people in a consistent and professional manner. Staff comment that supervision is 'good and provides lots of support' and that appraisals set challenging yet realistic targets intended to help them continually improve their practice.

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Leadership and management

Records held in the home are kept securely in a lockable filing cabinet and can only be accessed by those with the authority to do so. This ensures that young people's records are kept confidentially. All records are clear and provide an overview of young people's time in the home. Together with their 'journey books' this would allow young people to gain a clear understanding of their life in this home should they wish to look at their files now or in the future.

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Leadership and management

All significant events have been appropriately notified to Ofsted and give a full and clear picture of action the home has taken. They also show good evidence of partnership working with external agencies to ensure young people's safety. This ensures that Ofsted, as a regulator, have a clear view of what is going on in the home and what steps are being taken to ensure young people are being kept safe.

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Leadership and management

There have been two complaints received by the home, one from a neighbour and one from a young person. These have been followed up, responded to and all parties have been happy with the outcomes. The home have learnt from these incidents in terms of their awareness of neighbours needs and how young people can, inadvertently, impact on the local community.

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Leadership and management

There are some very good aspects to the care provided in this home and the management of the home are aware of areas where improvements can be made in order to further improve the quality of care provided by the home.

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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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