Children's Home run by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council in Dudley

Unique reference number SC038500 Inspection date 13/11/2013 Inspector Andrew Hewston Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 19/03/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home is operated by the local authority. The home can accommodate up to four children and young people.

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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 outstanding .

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Overall effectiveness

The home continues to provide a very high level of care to young people in the home. Young people make exceptional progress within the home, in a range of areas of their lives through a supportive and caring staffing team.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people enjoy being at the home and can describe how their lives have improved while being there. They make great attachments with staff and have a highly personalised plan that is well known by the staff team and supporting social worker. Young people are effective in the promotion of life in care and help to support the placing authority in developing a better service.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are safe in the home due to vigorous checks and effective policies and procedures. Risk assessments are robust and help young people to develop rather than curtailing their experiences of life. Young people are positive about their own developments, particularly with relation to their behaviour and improving their skills in activities.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff show a highly committed and enthusiastic role in the lives of young people, providing positive and caring role models to those in the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Four areas in need of the development of practice have been highlighted as part of this inspection. These relate to ensuring information is available regarding recruitment, greater analysis of monitoring systems, for development plans to show how areas could be improved further and updating some aspects of the Statement of Purpose. None of these areas effect the provision of care to the young people which is of an outstanding level.

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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 manager regularly monitors, in line with regulations, all records kept by the home to ensure compliance with the home’s policies, to identify any concerns about specific incidents and to identify patterns and trends (NMS 21.2)  ensure the registered person approves the Statement of Purpose and the children’s guide and reviews them at least annually (NMS 13.3)  ensure the registered person has a written development plan, reviewed annually, for the future of the home, either identifying any planned changes in the operation or resources of the service, or confirming the continuation of the home’s current operation and resource. (NMS 15.2)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit greatly from being at the home and receiving a consistent level of care from experienced and knowledgeable staff. All young people move forwards while being at the home in a range of areas, with staff being very responsive to their needs.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people develop in their awareness of their situations and are exceptionally well supported by staff to understand this. This takes significant skill from the staff team given the young age range of the young people within the home. Young people state that they have improved a lot from being at the home; with one stating that they 'feel a lot more settled here because of the staff that have helped me.' They are able to secure very positive attachments with the staff team. This has helped the young people to create strong emotional resilience to cope with the challenges of residential care. Young people have developed in their ability to be involved with decision making progresses, improving in their input while attending reviews and having key work sessions.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people develop with relation to their health while being at the home. The settled environment has led to examples of improvements for young people including immediate decreases in self harming and decreases in levels of restraint.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people attend school on a daily basis and are able to discuss how they have developed and moved forwards. For some their improved behaviour at school has been challenging. This has also been achieved through regular checks on attendance and a supportive staff team so that young people are now eager to attend and learn. Young people develop with relation to their maturity and confidence. This has led to some being able to spend increasing amounts of their time with friends in the community. Young people discuss how they are involved with an excellent wide range of activities that they were previously not able to achieve in, most notably karate and swimming. Young people are supported in being able to try out and experience differing experiences including holidays and trips out.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have become 'in demand' due to their enthusiasm and eloquence in sharing their experiences of care within differing forums. This improves awareness within the local authorities of the challenges of residential care and helps others to gain improved services. Such involvement helps to empower them to be proud of their achievements within their lives.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have decreased in risk taking behaviours, responding well to the stability that the home and staff offer. Contact arrangements are well considered and young people benefit from these, raising their ability to keep in touch with appropriate adults and celebrate the links that they have within their families.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

There are strong and effective relationships within the home between the staff and young people. Young people are positive about the staff team that support them, stating that 'the staff are good and really listen to you when you need them.' Young people are consistently listened to and their views help to develop and shape the service delivered. This is completed through young people's meetings, well recorded and detailed key working sessions and daily discussions relating to activities and how they have got on with their day.

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Quality of care

Young people have a high awareness of how to make complaints or who to talk to if they are unhappy. Information is available of additional independent support for young people, but there is an expectation that initially young people talk to staff. No complaints have been made at the home since the last inspection. There is an appropriate system in place to record and respond to complaints to support young people.

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Quality of care

Placement planning is detailed and links closely to the Looked After Children documentation completed by the placing authority. Planning consistently allows for young people's development, promoting differing challenges for the young people to achieve. Planning is updated on a regular basis and is responsive to areas raised within reviews. Strong relationships exist between the home and placing social workers. One social worker states that there is 'regular communication with the staff team and staff have helped well with the planning process.' Young people have an effective awareness of the planning and recording systems within the home.

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Quality of care

Excellent planning processes are in place to respond to the health needs of young people, with all appointments completed being fully recorded. Staff consistently promote healthy options within mealtimes and activities. All necessary permissions relating to medication and health are sought from the point of admission, with additional information being asked of parents where possible to ensure a robust picture of health needs is develop. All medication administration is completed and recorded well by trained staff. Robust relationships are in place with health professionals such as the children and adolescent mental health service to ensure that the young people are fully supported within the home through regular meetings and staffs’ high awareness of young people's needs.

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Quality of care

Staff are enthusiastic with the promotion of education and the choices that this brings. Attendance at school is excellent and young people are fully supported to be engaged in a range of extra curriculum activities and trips. Staff always attend parents consultation evenings and attend personal education planning meetings to further develop an awareness of young people's needs and promote their development. Young people are proud of their achievements and are able to discuss how they have 'got a lot more settled in school and have really started to do well.'

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Quality of care

Young people experience a wide range of activities that are organised by the home. The staff promote all activities and choices for young people, this allows them to be aware of their differing skills as well as trying out new skills, such as karate. Trips out and holidays are regularly completed, increasing young people's involvement with the community. Young people are involved with being ambassadors relating to being in care, attending meetings with the local authority and giving their views of services provided by the authority. This is fully supported by the staff team, who are proud of the young people's achievements in developing the services to be used by others.

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Quality of care

The home consistently raises awareness of cultural needs. Equality and diversity forms a standing agenda point within staff meetings and placement planning. Staff promote an awareness of young people's individuality and of those within their school and community. At the point of the inspection an excellent display relating to a topic of interest was in place.

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Quality of care

The home is consistently well cared for throughout. It offers a pleasant, comfortable and homely environment within all communal areas. Bedrooms are highly personalised and this is again supported by the staff team. There are plenty of areas where young people can spend time either on their own, with families, with friends or as a group. The home is highly resourced to provide a wealth of activities and opportunities to develop, such as bikes and outdoor activities. This is in addition to games consoles, computers and games that meet the needs of the young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Well known and robust policies and procedures are in place relating to child protection and safeguarding, with all staff completing regular training relating to their obligations and how to report and follow up on areas of concern. Staff are in close contact with placing social workers to report or discuss concerns relating to young people. No specific child protection concerns have been raised at the home since the last inspection. The Registered Manager has a very high awareness of on-going issues relating to the young people, their families and plans that are in place to support their safety. Young people state that they feel safe within the home and appropriate door locking systems are in place given the age range and risks relating to those in the home. The home's links with an independent advocate further supports young people's safety.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Effective and thoughtful reward structures are in place that are organised on an individual basis according to the specific needs and understanding of the young people. Young people can discuss these systems and what they have to do to achieve within them. Young people can discuss how their behaviours have improved while they have been at the home. Records relating to sanctions are appropriate, linking to daily recordings and regularly monitored by the management team to support their safety. Recordings of restraint are fully completed. Restraints have decreased significantly for some young people, while others have not been restrained at all. All staff have completed training in the use of restraint and they are only used as a last resort following a variety of diffusion techniques.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Previous young people have been involved with being absent from the home without permission. Staff were highly involved in the monitoring of the situation, with both the young person's family and the Police. This includes visiting numerous addresses and attending a range of meetings to support the young person's safety. Effective protocols and policies are in place with the Police with relation to reporting and resolving issues around absence and these have been followed well by staff. Incidents of absence have decreased considerably over the past two months and no young people are involved with risk taking behaviours.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Recruitment information is available within the home. Very recent appointments have had all necessary checks completed. This shows that young people are kept safe by robust recruitment checks.

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Safeguarding children and young people

All necessary health and safety checks are completed on a regular basis to ensure the safety of both staff and young people. Fire risk assessments and checks are all up to date and young people are aware of what they have to do in the event of a fire. A good range of risk assessments are in place to highlight responses to possible concerning situations. These are revisited regularly to ensure that they are appropriate to the current needs and risks associated with the young people.

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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 home is managed by an appropriately qualified and experienced Registered Manager. All staff feel well supported within the home, through both the management structure and their colleagues. This is done through regular formal structures such as supervisions and appraisals as well as on-going daily discussions; this helps with developing good practice. Supervisions are fully recorded and agenda items include the development of both the young people and the staff themselves to ensure that all are aware of the needs of young people and how they are being met. Staff meetings are also completed on a regular basis.

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Leadership and management

The home's Statement of Purpose contains a good range of information relating to the care of young people. Some areas are in need of updating to highlight changes in the home and the provision offered. An appropriate young people's guide gives information to young people about the home and basic rules.

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Leadership and management

The home is sufficiently staffed and all necessary training has been completed by the staff team to ensure the safe care of young people.

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Leadership and management

Appropriate monitoring systems are in place that allow for the development of the home. Monthly visitor reports are made available to Ofsted and show that there is discussions with young people held on most visits. All issues raised during such visits are responded to swiftly to develop the service. The management have a high awareness of the way that the home meets the needs of the young people. Monthly monitoring is completed although there is a need for this to be analysed to a greater degree to examine trends and patterns in service delivery to improve on the provision. The home has a basic development plan that examines the strengths of the home and what has been achieved over the past year. This could be further developed by examining how the home is to move forwards to improve on current practices.

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Leadership and management

The staff team have responded to the one recommendation made at the last inspection. Fire drills are now completed to ensure that young people are aware of how to exit the building in the case of an emergency.

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Leadership and management

Young people's records are appropriately kept and an audit tool is in place to check if all necessary items are in place. The home is well resourced and there are no concerns relating to the financial viability of 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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