Children's Home run by Lifetime Opportunities Limited in Lancashire

Unique reference number SC411046 Inspection date 29/11/2013 Inspector Monica Hargreaves Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 01/03/2013 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

The home is operated by a private company and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people who have learning disabilities.

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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

Children benefit from the individualised care and support they are given and as a result; they are able to make good progress in all areas of their lives from their starting point on admission to the home. They enjoy warm, nurturing relationships with staff and feel secure and settled. Children make steady progress towards meeting their individual education targets. They enjoy good health and they take part in a number of different activities that broaden their experiences and support their learning and general development. Their sense of confidence increases as their skills develop.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff have a very good understanding of the complex needs of the children in their care and also of safe working practice. Consequently, they know how to keep children safe and do so very effectively. Professionals and relatives confirm that children are very safe in the home and children themselves are happy with staff. The manager and staff work closely with other agencies to ensure that children have access to services they need to support their progress.

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Overall effectiveness

The home is managed effectively. The manager provides good leadership to the staff team and she monitors the care of children very closely to ensure that their welfare is promoted. One requirement and one recommendation have been made at this inspection. These relate to the manager's reports of monthly monitoring and an aspect of children's placement plans.

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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) ensure that the system that is in place for monitoring the quality of care in the home provides for consultation with children, their parents and placing authorities. (Regulation 34 (3)) 31/12/2013

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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 that the requirements of each child's placements are implemented in the day-to-day care of that child, in particular that plans clearly record measurable outcomes. (NMS 25.2)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children with very complex needs make good progress overall. They respond well to the structured routines in the home and relate well to staff. They develop their social skills and become more confident and resilient over time. Professionals and family members confirm that children are making good progress and report that they are settled and happy in the home. Children enjoy a healthy lifestyle. They eat very well and have medicines when they need them to support their good health. They have access to a range of activities both inside and outside the home that promote exercise and support their general development. For example, they attend after school clubs, where they have the opportunity to spend time with friends and do various things such as cycling, arts and crafts and cookery. They also enjoy trips out with staff to the coast and walks in the local countryside. These activities broaden their experiences. Children also play in the local park and go shopping to local

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Outcomes for children and young people

supermarkets. This gives them the opportunity to be part of their local community.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children have clear education plans and attend school every day. This enables them to learn; consequently, they make steady progress towards meeting their individual education targets. Children communicate their wishes and feelings through the use of communication aids, such as picture exchange systems, simple signing and social stories. They make choices in all areas of their lives, such as choosing which clothes to wear, which meals to eat and which activities they want to take part in. Children also learn life skills at a pace that is appropriate to their specific needs and abilities. For example, they help staff to keep their rooms tidy and over time they become confident with personal care tasks such as bathing and washing their hair. This gives young people a sense of achievement and improves their confidence. Children have regular contact with relatives. They enjoy these visits, which benefit them

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Outcomes for children and young people

emotionally and enable them to maintain a sense of their identity as part of a family.

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Quality of care

Children are well cared for by staff who are committed to helping them to achieve to their individual potential. They interact well with staff and are happy and settled. This is confirmed by professionals and relatives who made positive comments about care in the home and the progress children make. For example, 'staff have created a very warm and welcoming environment'; also: 'staff know (name) really well and make sure that he is well cared for.' They say that care staff give children’s wellbeing paramount importance.

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Quality of care

Staff have a very good understanding of children's needs and of their local authority care plans. Clear placement plans are drawn from the authority's overall plans. These contain a good range of information about children, their routines and preferences, enabling all staff who work with them to know how to care for them in order to support their progress. However, the plans do not currently contain sufficiently detailed information about the specific targets that staff are helping children to achieve. The manager indicated that she is currently working to revise the care planning format to ensure that these are clearly identified.

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Quality of care

Staff work effectively with schools to ensure that children are supported to reach their targets. They attend all meetings and events at school and liaise closely to resolve any issue or difficulty that arises. School staff say that care staff: 'are friendly, approachable and professional'. One professional said that a particular child ‘always comes into school in a happy frame of mind and always appears well-cared for'. Care staff also work closely with health agencies, to fully address children's physical and emotional health needs. The home's arrangements for managing medication are robust, ensuring that children are protected and have medicines when they need them.

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Quality of care

Children benefit from living in a comfortably furnished, clean and very well maintained, homely environment. They personalise their rooms in line with their needs and wishes and toys, family photographs, books and games are found throughout the house. Children are able to enjoy the large garden; this is well maintained and suitably enclosed to ensure their safety. The home is located in a residential area. There are good transport links and children benefit from using public transport, as it supports their involvement in the wider community.

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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

The home's arrangements for safeguarding are extremely robust ensuring that children are cared for very safely. Relatives and professionals reported that they have no concerns at all about the safety of children. A professional said that children they knew at the home were, 'really, really safe' and a relative said their child, ‘is happy and safe'.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff are trained in safeguarding and safe care so that they know how to identify any signs and symptoms of abuse and how to report and manage these in order to protect children. There is a clear whistle blowing policy, which is frequently discussed at staff meetings in order to stress the importance of reporting any concerns. Staff follow safe care protocols when they support children with personal care, managing this sensitively and promoting children's right to privacy. Children's vulnerabilities are fully addressed in their plans and risk assessments. This ensures that there is a very good knowledge within the staff team about how to care for children in order to keep them safe. Children do not go missing from the home because they are appropriately supervised, in line with their individual plans and risk assessments. Bullying is not an issue in the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff communicate effectively with young people in order to understand if they are unhappy with any aspect of their care. They use social stories to help young people to identify things that might cause them concern. Social stories also help young people to learn about personal safety. Staff take prompt action to address any issue that they identify in order to ensure that children are protected. An advocate visits the home and meets with children and gets to know them. This ensures that children have access to someone who is independent of the home. Children have regular contact with members of their family who are also able to advocate on their behalf. Relatives confirmed that they understand the complaints process and would feel confident and comfortable about making a complaint if they needed to. This supports young people's safety.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff provide good structures and routines for children. The way they care for children has helped them to learn to behave appropriately. This has been recognised by professionals who have made positive comments about the improvements in children's behaviour over time. Staff are trained in safe behaviour management techniques, including in the use of physical restraint. However, this is hardly ever needed in the home as staff manage children's behaviour effectively by distracting them and redirecting them to more positive behaviours. There have been no incidents that have resulted in a physical intervention for over a year. This has contributed to children's sense of security in the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The organisation's recruitment practices are extremely robust. All staff are vetted before they start work in the home, ensuring that children are protected from unsuitable individuals. The home itself is appropriately secure, preventing access by unauthorised people. It is kept safe for children, staff and visitors by a robust system of health and safety checks.

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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 effectively by an experienced and qualified manager. She has a very good understanding of her role and responsibilities as well as a very good knowledge of children under her care. She provides a good level of support and guidance to the staff who work in the home. Supervision is regular and addresses staff training and development needs. The manager and staff also meet regularly as a team to discuss the care and welfare of children.

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Leadership and management

The manager ensures that there is consistency of care for children from an established team of staff. An additional member of staff from one of the organisation's other homes is available to work in this home when required. This means that only a small number of individuals work with children in this home, ensuring that children know their staff and experience continuity of care. This helps them to feel secure and supports their progress. The home's manager keeps up to date with new legislation and ensures that staff have good information so that they too can keep up to date with developments in practice. The organisation requires staff to have, or gain, a suitable qualification and offers them regular training in issues that are relevant to the needs of the children they care for. This enables staff to develop and maintain their knowledge and skills.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose contains very clear information about the routines and care in the home. It is made available to placing authorities and relatives so that they can see how children are cared for. The young person's guide is written in a format of symbols and simple language that is appropriate to the specific needs of the children. Staff work through this document with children to help them to see how they will be looked after and to learn about their rights in care.

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Leadership and management

There are appropriate arrangements in place to ensure that the quality of care and the progress of children is regularly monitored. Managers, who are independent of this home, regularly visit to undertake checks in line with the regulations. The manager also makes regular checks on the quality of care and the outcomes that children achieve. Copies of these reports are submitted to Ofsted and provide good information about how the home is run. However, there is no evidence in the manager's reports of the consultation that she has had with families or professionals, or how this is used to inform developments in the home. Children's files are well maintained. Information is detailed and kept up to date and provides a clear record of children's history and placement in the home that can go with them when they move on.

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Leadership and management

There were no requirements or recommendations made at the last inspection. The home has a good track record of responding promptly to issues that are identified during inspections or through the management monitoring process. This demonstrates the manager's commitment to ensuring that the service continues to improve for the benefit of children.

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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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