Children's Home run by Progressive Care Limited in Sheffield

Unique reference number SC002930 Inspection date 27/11/2013 Inspector Debbie Foster Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 29/01/2013 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 one of a number that is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care and accommodation for up to nine children and young people who have 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 adequate .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit greatly from being looked after by a staff team who are persevering and committed. They have established sound quality of care practices and show determination to address welfare, education and safety issues that overtime enables young people to move forward in their lives. Young people spoke positively about the care they receive.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are provided with a positive environment where staff see the importance of building strong relationships, working to establish trust and confidence to enable young people to move forward in their lives. The progress young people are making is dependent on the life journey they have previously experienced and the length of time they have lived at the home. The practices staff implement help to protect young people from harm. The judgement for outcomes for young people is limited to adequate as a result of some young people's risk taking behaviour, limited educational progress and deficiencies in the monitoring systems.

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Overall effectiveness

Suitable systems and effective care practice ensure the welfare and safety of young people. Staff demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of the risks young people face and take positive action to ensure risks are minimised. This means young people's safety is well promoted.

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Overall effectiveness

Care planning is individualised. Staff are well aware of young people's assessed needs. The quality of written placement plans is good because they clearly outline where necessary how young people's needs are to be met. Staff have built strong links and work in a coordinated way with young people and relevant professionals. This ensures the young people receive the right support and it assists them to in starting to make progress in their lives.

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Overall effectiveness

The home is effectively managed. The manager and staff team is committed to ensuring young people are provided with a good standard of care. Staff are well trained and receive good support through supervision, daily handovers and staff meetings.

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Overall effectiveness

The shortfalls identified during this inspection relate to aspects of; deficiencies in the provision of education which affects the attendance and attainment of young people; A lack of evidence of direct work routinely undertaken with some young people which reflects placement plan and risk assessment goals; regulation 34 monitoring records not available for inspection; not providing Ofsted with a summary of the manager's monitoring to demonstrate where improvement to the quality of care and service has been identified and addressed.

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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

(2001) supply to HMCI a report in respect of any review conducted by the service for the purpose of improving the quality of care provided in the children's home and matters set out in schedule 6. ( Regulation 34 (1) (a) (b) 7 (2)) 28/01/2013

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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 effective procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the home. In particular, ensure monitoring systems identify omissions and deficiencies and thereby take immediate action to assist in improving on the quality of care. These records should be available for inspection (NMS 21.1)  ensure young people are helped to achieve their educational and training goals. this includes providing support, facilities and opportunities as needed. Staff must work with the young person's education provider to maximise each child's achievement and to minimise any under achievement. In particular ensuring full time placements are provided for all young people in a timely fashion (NMS 8.4)  ensure that each child’s placement plan is monitored by a key worker within the home who ensures that the requirements of the plan are implemented in full. In particular, direct work sessions should demonstrate all the work undertaken and

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Recommendations

show the progress young people are making, including areas of independence skills, behaviour management, substance misuse and risk taking behaviour (NMS 25.2)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are adequate .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's ability to form and sustain positive attachments is affected by the difficult start in life they have experienced. They now benefit from placement stability, good advice and support that strengthen their ability to develop positive self-esteem and emotional resilience. Most young people engage well and some have made attachments with key staff members and are able about talk about aspects of their life. This helps some young people gain a good understanding of their background. However, for some young people, they are still on the journey to achieve this. They continue to build trusting relationships with staff, who are committed and persevering in achieve positive attachments with young people.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's ability to form and sustain positive attachments is affected by the difficult start in life they have experienced. They now benefit from placement stability, good advice and support that strengthens their ability to develop positive self-esteem and emotional resilience. Most young people engage well and some have made attachments with key staff members and are able about talk about aspects of their life. This helps some young people gain a good understanding of their background. However, for some young people, they are still on the journey to achieve this. They continue to build trusting relationships with staff, who are committed and persevering in achieve positive attachments with young people.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are well supported to maintain good health and lifestyles. They attend routine health appointments. Young people benefit emotionally from accessing support services such as the child and adolescent mental health team.. ( CHRISTY WANNOP: This is not an outcome for YPs: this is an input. ) Young people have open discussions with staff about the detrimental effect of smoking, drinking and drugs. However, some young people still engage in activities which could affect their health, including smoking and substance use on occasions. As a result, this does affect the overall health outcomes for some young people.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people recognise the importance of education which is activity endorsed by the staff. There are positive links with the looked after children's education officer Young people benefit from the support staff provide to attend and participate in school. ( CHRISTY WANNOP: Input. ) However, a number of young people have not been able to make continued and sustained progress with regards to their school attendance and attainment from the starting point of their placements. This has been affected in some instances due to a delay in local authorities, education departments and schools making decisions and allocating school places and full timetables to individual young people. Staff work tirelessly to address these barriers with success for some but not for others. Therefore, this has detrimental effects for young people, reducing their future educational course options and adult life chances.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit overall from suitable support to help them develop independence skills, appropriate to their age and understanding in most instances. This includes young people part taking in domestic chores, such as keeping their bedrooms clean and tidy and processing their own laundry. Young people who are over 16 years old have a pathway plan. However, the aims of the plan to support the young person with budgeting skills have not been fully implemented.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit greatly from being cared for by an experienced staff group that demonstrate their commitment to meeting the individual care and safety needs of young people. Staff say, ' We care about the young people here and work well as a team to provide consistent care.' Young people confirm this, one young person said, ' The best thing about living here is the staff, they really do care about us, I have lived in a number of care homes, I know.' Another said: 'All the staff are nice here I can chat to any of them and they will try and sort things out for me.' Young people enjoy warm relationships with staff and there is an excellent rapport between them. Staff speak positively about young people and their achievements. Staff say, ‘a strength of the staff team is that we build strong relationships with young people and this helps us to engage with them more because they trust us.'

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Quality of care

Young people confirm that their views are genuinely sought and acted upon. The staff help young people to make decisions about their lives and influence the way that the home is run. Staff provide opportunities for daily chats and one-to-one discussions, key worker sessions and residents’ meetings. Young people are supported and encouraged to attend their statutory reviews to be able to give their views. Staff support young people to access an advocate where they require one. A young person said, 'I chose weekly the activities I like to go on and I know when I have health appointments.’ A professional said, 'The staff do fight the corner of young people in meetings to ensure their voice is heard.' Any cases where it is not possible to act upon young people's wishes are explained to them. Young people confirm this saying that, 'Staff do explain things to me,' and, 'Staff are fair.’

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Quality of care

Young people say that they are confident to complain and understand how to do so. Any complaints received are clearly recorded to reflect the action taken by the staff and the outcomes.

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Quality of care

Staff are clearly aware of young people's assessed needs and written placement plans outline how young people's needs will be met. Focused direct work is undertaken and provides young people with guidance, advice and support. However, this is not always reflecting all the content of the placement plans and other supporting documents. This does not show the full extent of the action taken by the staff to meet the identified needs of the young person. Therefore, this is not, on all occasions, evidencing clearly or identifying continued areas of support that young people require or where progress is being made in their lives. In particular, this relates to behaviour, independence skills and risk taking behaviour.

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Quality of care

The staff appreciate that the individual young people may have needs arising from diversity. The young people receive individualised care and support. Where necessary, staff ensure support services are involved in the health, care and education of the young people. The home has links with a wide range of helping agencies, and very good practice has helped to quickly provide services to suit each individual young person.

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Quality of care

Young people live in a suitably-maintained property, which is close to a local shopping area and accessible public transport. The home is clean and in a good state of structural and decorative repair. There are homely touches throughout. It provides a comfortable environment for young people. Young people have their own bedrooms, which they can personalise to reflect their individuality. In recent months damage has occurred as a result of negative behaviour from some young people. In the main, maintenance for the building, furniture and equipment is undertaken in suitable timescales. Since the last inspection, a number of areas have been decorated and new carpets have been fitted in communal areas. This ensures young people are living in a pleasant home with adequate facilities to meet their needs.

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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

Staff work very effectively with young people and other professionals to help young people feel safe and protect them from harm. Young people feel safe at home and are learning to understand the risks of going missing from the home, and the potential to be exploited. Staff encourage young people to keep out of danger and this is starting to have a positive impact on help young people reduce behaviour that is risky to their welfare. Good joint working with other statutory agencies has significantly improved young people's safety, in particular with regard to risks of being exploited.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Care planning includes a strong focus on risk management, detailing the individual needs of each young person. Staff know and understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They are knowledgeable about young people’s specific vulnerabilities. Staff follow risk management guidance to ensure young people's safety is well promoted. This is supporting young people to make progress from their starting points. Any concerns about a young person's safety are correctly reported to other agencies. When young people are absent from the home, staff are successful in ensuring their safe return, reviewing supporting strategies where appropriate, including holding multi agency professionals meetings. This supports staff to ensure young people are safe at home and promotes their safety in the community. Levels of support young people receive have led to a decline in the frequency they are missing. Staff are good at responding to negative and anti-social behaviour. Sanctions are

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Safeguarding children and young people

relevant and reflect the age and understanding of the young people. The sanctions imposed are reviewed regularly for appropriateness and effectiveness. Personalised behaviour management strategies are used for each young person. This effective approach avoids the need to use physical intervention routinely. This has a strong impact on the homely atmosphere and positive relationships between staff and young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Good health and safety arrangements are in place. Staff undertake fire safety training and young people and staff are involved in fire drills to ensure that they know how to safely evacuate the building in the event of a fire. Suitable maintenance of the building is undertaken. As a result, young people live in a physically safe and secure home.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

Suitable leadership and management are demonstrated within the home. The manager is experienced and knowledgeable about her role and responsibilities. She understands the strengths and areas for improvement in the home and has developed a clear plan to implement.

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Leadership and management

Action has been taken to address recommendations made at the last inspection. The Registered Manager has completed a qualification in management. Repairs have been made to the kitchen units, surfaces and cupboard doors. This ensures the young people have facilities and an environment which is of a good standard.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose records the required information to assist professionals and others making decisions in placing young people in a home. The criteria for admission is wide-reaching in terms of the needs of young people the home will accommodate and support. The manager said that when making decisions about the admission of a young person, the needs of the individual and those of the existing group already living in the home are considered. Admissions are only agreed when assessing all the needs of young people can be met. The children's guide answers the relevant questions that young people may have before moving into the home.

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from care delivered by a suitably managed, experienced, stable and permanent staff team. This assists in providing consistency and in the main promotes young people's diverse needs. Staff say they are well supported and confirm that the management team is approachable. All staff benefit from receiving regular formal supervision. This consistently provides suitable support to all staff to access continuing advice and guidance in relation to their care of young people. As a result, staff are motivated and have a common goal to improve young people’s lives. This is noted by young people who feel that staff are genuinely interested in them.

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Leadership and management

The staff are trained in a wide variety of safety and childcare matters. The majority of the staff team are currently undertaking the level 3 Children and Young People's Workforce Diploma qualification. An on-going programme of regular refresher training is provided including some specialist training in such areas as mental health, drugs and alcohol and self-harm. As a result, this ensures the staff can consistently deliver a suitable and safe standard of care to young people.

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Leadership and management

Management monitoring of the home’s operation is not robust enough in all areas to fully identify and make effective improvements. Deficiencies have been found in aspects of the care planning, where direct work has not been routinely been undertaken as specified. Regulation 33 monitoring visits to the home are undertaken. However, the manager's monthly monitoring, Regulation 34 report summaries have not been submitted to Ofsted as required. At the time of the inspection the manager’s monthly electronic records were not available for inspection. Therefore, this does not demonstrate how effective the monitoring of the home is or provides information on how the quality of care provided is improving for young people.

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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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