Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Unique reference number SC059635 Inspection date 22/11/2013 Inspector Monica Hargreaves Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 04/03/2013 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

This children's home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to eight young people who may be experiencing a range of social, emotional and behavioural problems. It is run by a local authority.

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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 benefit from the excellent standard of care they receive from staff and as a result, they make good progress overall. They have a healthy lifestyle and they make progress in education from their starting points on admission to the home. They develop practical and social skills that will help them in later life and they have aspirations for their further education and employment.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff and feel valued by them. This helps them to grow in confidence and self-esteem. Young people have a good knowledge of their history and background and their sense of identity is supported by the work they do with staff and the contact they have with family members.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff have an excellent understanding of young people's vulnerabilities and work effectively to keep them safe. Young people report that the home is a safe place to live and that they feel able to talk to staff if they have a problem. Staff successfully promote positive behaviour and generally young people behave well towards one another and staff. This supports young people's sense of security.

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Overall effectiveness

The home is managed effectively. The manager provides strong leadership to staff and ensures that young people's welfare and progress are closely monitored. Staff are well supported and work well together to provide consistent care to young people. There is a clear commitment in the home to the continuous improvement of the service for the benefit of young people. As a result of this inspection, one recommendation has been made. This relates to the numbers of staff on the permanent team.

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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 that vacancies in the staff team are recruited to so there is continuity of staffing. (NMS 17.8)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make good progress in all areas of their lives when considering their starting points on admission to the home. They develop and sustain positive relationships with staff and make friendships outside the home. This helps to develop their confidence and sense of self-worth. Young people say that they like living in the home, they made comments such as, 'It's really good here.’ Professionals reported that they felt young people were settled and doing well.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have a clear understanding of their history and background. Their sense of identity is supported by the contact that they maintain with relatives and by the discussions they have with care staff and social workers.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy good health. Over time in the home, they develop a good understanding of health issues and how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. All young people report that they eat well and they know about the importance of this for their good health. They also understand about the negative impact that the use of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes can have on their health. Consequently, most young people do not use these substances. Any young person who does smoke or drink alcohol on admission to the home has been successfully supported to stop. This lack of involvement with harmful substances has a positive impact on young people's overall health. Most young people exercise regularly such as through attending the gym and playing a range of sports. Some young people play for local football and rugby teams and enjoy ice skating. In addition to supporting their health, these activities help them to develop their individual skills and interests and form friendships in their

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Outcomes for children and young people

community; in turn this contributes to their growing sense of self-esteem.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people attend school on a daily basis and they make good progress in education. They have aspirations for their future employment and have plans to take nationally recognised examinations in order to progress to further and higher education. This improves their chances in later life.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make good progress towards independence. They learn and develop the practical and emotional skills they will need when they leave care. A number of young people have enjoyed settled long-term placements and have successfully moved on into more independent settings. Young people report that they feel they are learning how to be more independent.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Staff have an excellent understanding of the young people they care for and value them as individuals. They build very positive, trusting relationships with young people. This helps young people to settle into the home and to achieve positive outcomes. Young people were observed to relate very well to staff. They said that they feel able to talk to staff and that they believe staff are concerned about them and want them to do well. For example, one young person said 'I get on with all the staff. They want the best for me.’ A number of young people who have left and moved into more independent living remain in contact with the home and let staff know how they are doing. This indicates that they value the relationships they have with staff and continue to feel that staff are concerned about their welfare.

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Quality of care

Staff prepare detailed individual plans and risk assessments for young people, in close consultation with young people themselves. These are drawn from the authority's care plans and ensure that young people's needs and desired outcomes are clearly identified. Young people's specific needs in relation to their culture and religion are fully addressed. Professionals report that staff work very effectively with young people to help them to achieve positive outcomes. Placement plans and risk assessments are regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain relevant to young people's current and emerging needs.

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Quality of care

Care staff work very effectively with other professionals such as social workers, the police, education staff and workers from voluntary agencies. This close partnership working promotes consistency for young people, which in turn supports their progress and ensures their safety.

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Quality of care

Staff report that they work well as a team and staff morale is high. This is communicated to young people and contributes to their feeling of security in the home.

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Quality of care

Staff actively promote positive behaviour. They understand why young people's behaviour can be challenging and work effectively to help young people to learn to manage conflict and difficulties in their own lives. Consequently, young people's behaviour improves over time and generally young people behave well towards one another and staff. Young people say that they feel they 'get on together most of the time.’ Care staff report that young people are very welcoming to new residents and help them to settle in.

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Quality of care

The home's arrangements for managing medication are effective, protecting young people and ensuring that they have medicines when they need them. Young people benefit from living in a home that is safe and maintained to a very good standard. The home is suitably located in a residential area with good transport links. This enables young people to have good access to schools, shops and leisure facilities. Young people are encouraged to take a pride in their environment by helping to keep it in good order and helping to choose how the home is decorated. They report that they like their home.

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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 report that they feel safe in the home. They know that staff are keen to ensure that they remain safe when they are away from the home and say that staff talk to them about how to achieve this. Professionals confirm that they are confident that young people are cared for safely. One social worker commented that staff have a very good understanding of young people's vulnerabilities and 'do everything they possibly can to keep them safe.’

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff training in safeguarding and safe care is kept up to date to ensure that they know how to identify the signs and symptoms of abuse and how to report and manage concerns in order to keep young people safe. The training staff undertake specifically addresses sexual exploitation to keep staff's knowledge of these issues up to date. Staff regularly monitor and update young people's risk assessments and plans to ensure that they continue to be effective.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people do not often go missing from the home. Staff encourage young people to let them know where they are going when they leave the home. They maintain detailed information about young people which is shared appropriately with other agencies, so that effective plans can be put in place to protect young people if they do go missing. The reporting protocol is clear and is followed by staff in the event that a young person goes missing. The home has good links with the local police co- ordinator responsible for young people who go missing from care.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are trained to respond positively to challenging behaviour. This includes training in physical restraint. Physical intervention is used infrequently and only as a last resort when it is necessary to keep young people and staff safe. Clear records are kept of all such incidents. These are monitored by the manager to ensure that staff are following the home's procedures and young people's individual care plans and that young people are being cared for safely.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people report that there is no bullying in the home. They and staff say that there are occasional difficulties between individual young people, but that 'staff sort things out.’ This supports young people's sense of safety in the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people understand the complaints procedure and have confidence in the way their complaints are handled. They feel they are listened to and that their views matter and gave examples of things that have changed as a result of issues they have raised with the manager and staff. This helps to promote young people's sense of self-worth and helps them to feel secure.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The authority's recruitment practices are robust, ensuring that all staff are vetted before they start work. These arrangements help to protect young people from unsuitable individuals gaining access to the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Effective systems for health and safety checks and risk assessments ensure that the home is kept safe for young people, staff and visitors.

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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

Young people benefit from living in a home that is managed very effectively. The home's manager is qualified and very experienced. She provides very good leadership to the staff team and has an excellent understanding of young people's care plans and the progress they make in the home. There is an acting assistant manager who is also suitably qualified and experienced and who ensures that the home runs smoothly in the absence of the manager.

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Leadership and management

Care staff report that they feel they are well supported by managers and senior staff in the team. They have regular supervision and frequent team meetings. These arrangements enable them to discuss the care of young people, the general running of the home and their own training and development needs. Communication within the team is very good, ensuring that there is consistency in the approach staff take to their work with young people. This helps young people to make good progress overall. Staff report that mandatory training is regularly refreshed and that they have opportunities to undertake other training to develop their knowledge and to support them in their work with young people.

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Leadership and management

There are sufficient staff working in the home at any one time to ensure that young people are well cared for and kept safe. However, there are some vacancies in the permanent team. Staff from the authority's casual team cover gaps on the rota, but their pattern of work is not always regular. Although over time, young people get to know the staff, this does not provide sufficient continuity for young people. The manager confirmed that recruitment within the authority is continuing to ensure that vacancies are filled.

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Leadership and management

Management monitoring arrangements are robust. The manager completes regular checks on care in the home and provides detailed reports of her findings to senior managers and to Ofsted. An independent person visits the home every month and also completes checks on the care provided and consults with young people, staff and families regularly. Reports of these visits are clear and detailed and also submitted to Ofsted as required. The manager takes action to address any issue that is identified as a result of these checks. She also responds promptly to matters raised during the inspection process. This demonstrates a clear commitment to improving the service for the benefit of young people. The requirement that was made at the last inspection has been met, ensuring that all significant events are notified to Ofsted as required by the regulations.

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Leadership and management

The home's Statement of Purpose is clearly written and confirms the ethos of the home and how young people are cared for. This is made available to professionals and relatives so they have good information about the home. The manager has recently reviewed the document to ensure that it is up to date. The young person's guide to the service is also kept up to date. Young people are given a copy of this as part of the introduction process to the home. This enables them to understand how they will be cared for and ensures that they have information about their rights in care.

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Leadership and management

Staff maintain clear, detailed and up-to-date information about young people. These records contribute to young people's understanding of their history, their plans and time in this home. Young people are encouraged to read what is written about them and to contribute to their records so their views are incorporated into them. All information is stored securely and managed appropriately to protect young people's right to confidentiality.

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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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