Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Norfolk

Unique reference number SC456330 Inspection date 22/11/2013 Inspector Deirdra Keating Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 20/02/2013 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

This service provides four placements for children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A private organisation owns and operates this setting.

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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

This home provides good quality care that incorporates young people's unique needs and enables them to develop as individuals. As a result of the care provided, young people have made significant progress. This is evident in changes in their attitudes and behaviours.

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Overall effectiveness

The relationships between staff and young people are a key strength of the service. These help young people feel secure and safe. Young people understand their responsibilities and develop their independent living skills. They fully recognise the positive impact the quality of care has had on their lives.

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Overall effectiveness

The manager has a good overview of the home and a realistic understanding of areas that require improvement. There is a strong commitment to improve the home and the outcomes for young people. The shortfalls identified relate to the maintenance of the garden, replacement and cleaning of appliances, failure to notify Ofsted of a significant event and access to bedrooms. Weaknesses are identified in monitoring and complying with an organisational policy. These, however, do not influence negatively on the safety of young people or the good quality of care provided.

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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 all parts of the children's home are kept clean reasonably decorated and maintained (Regulation 31 (2) (e )) 05/12/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that if any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table. (Regulation 30 (1)) 05/12/2013

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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 manager monitors all records kept by the home, this is in relation to the record of consequences (NMS 21.2)  ensure that staff's work is consistent with the homes policies this is in regard to following procedures in relation to complaints from young people (NMS 21.3)  ensure the home can adequately and consistently maintain provision which complies with regulations or national minimum standards in relation to the maintenance of the property and the replacement of kitchen appliances (NMS 15.3)  ensure that normal movements around the home are not physically restricted this is in regard to ensuring children have independent access to their bedrooms (NMS 10.4)  ensure entries in records are legible and clearly expressed. (NMS 22.4)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are extremely positive about the home and the care that they receive. They feel secure in the knowledge that staff are consistently concerned about their welfare. The value of building relationships with staff and a safe nurturing environment is evident in young people's progress. Young people develop confidence in their abilities, benefit from positive relationships, spend time with peers and regularly see their families. The feedback from young people is unanimous; they all say that they feel safe, happy and well looked after.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are able to see their families, as agreed this ensures that young people maintain and develop relationships with those significant to them. Staff facilitate these arrangements including welcoming family members to the home. Feedback from parents is extremely positive one parent said 'the home is the best thing that has ever happened to him'. This supports young people to maintain contact with their families and know that their families are valued and accepted.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are successfully encouraged by staff to adopt active healthy lifestyles. The ample grounds and gardens encourage young people to enjoy the outdoors. Some young people help with growing vegetables and gardening, therefore combining physical activity with healthy eating options. Young people are starting to take responsibility for their own health.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people attend school and alternative school provision. The levels of attendance vary between young people; however, all young people show an overall increase in attendance. Young people have made significant achievements in their learning when considering their individual starting points. Young people who have a history of non-attendance have started to re-engage with school. This has helped build their confidence and self-esteem.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are gaining the skills necessary to help them live independently. Young people benefit from work experience including undertaking weekend work. With the support of staff young people are beginning to make life-changing decisions about their future. They are also developing the ability to deal with the practical and emotional aspects of leaving the home.

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Quality of care

The staff have a strong rapport with young people and this has resulted in positive and meaningful relationships developing. These support young people emotionally when they face difficulties in their lives. Staff have successfully created a homely atmosphere that combines nurturing care with good humour and fun. The staff team consists of adults of differing ages and a mix of gender and expertise. Many staff have interests and skills that match young people's interests. Staff channel their skills to benefit young people. Young people identify very well with staff and this provides them with positive and affirming adult role models.

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Quality of care

Staff seek young people's ideas regularly through discussions and spending quality time with young people. Young people contribute ideas and these influence resources obtained, the décor and the menu planning in the home. Staff provide an exciting choice of activities tailored well to young people's interests and in which young people participate with enthusiasm. Photographs around the home show young people thoroughly enjoying trips and holidays with staff. Young people develop happy memories of the home and benefit from trying new experiences.

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Quality of care

Staff promote healthy lifestyles and are good healthy role models to young people. They support physical activities, sports and outdoor pursuits. These include football, paintballing, go karting and motor cross. Staff cook food from fresh ingredients and provide meals that are nutritionally balanced. There are established cooking routines that young people enthusiastically anticipate. These include weekly roast dinners, homemade pies, pizzas, fruit crumbles and traditional meals from different cultures.

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Quality of care

Staff care for young people in accordance with detailed placement plans. Placement plans contain details of daily incidents and background information about young people for staff. Staff provide individualised care in accordance with young people's specific needs. Staff ensure young people have access to health professionals who support their health needs. Young people take responsibility for taking their respective medicines, which supports them in working towards independence.

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Quality of care

Staff provide good levels of supervision and monitor the dynamics of the group closely. While there may be minor disagreements between young people, few incidents occur and in general, young people accept one another's differences. Staff provide good care for young people and implement consistent boundaries. This helps young people feel secure and contained.

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Quality of care

The home is a detached bungalow located in a rural village. The communal areas are spacious and decorated using young people's choices of paint and pictures. This gives them a sense of belonging and helps them know that their ideas are valued. Young people have single bedrooms with adequate storage space. Bedrooms are personalised in accordance with their preferences and tastes. However, they cannot always access these without asking a member of staff as they do not all have keys. This undermines young people's independence.

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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 are relaxed and confident within the home. They say that they feel safe in the knowledge that staff will advocate for them. Bullying is not identified as an issue at the home. Generally, young people get on well and this helps them feel relaxed and safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Safeguarding protocols are in place and these are understood well by staff. Training is provided regularly to ensure staff understand and implement the safeguarding procedures. Records demonstrate joint working with external professionals to safeguard young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The staff use physical restraint to contain extreme situations and to ensure all young people's safety. The recording of this demonstrates good follow up work with young people is carried out. This encourages them to reflect on their behaviours and helps them understand the need for interventions. There are a number of consequences given in response to behavioural incidents. The recording of these lack detail and managerial oversight; this does not provide good monitoring of practice.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There are high numbers of incidents of young people missing from the home. The home has agreed a missing from home categorisation that is responsive to the individual vulnerabilities of each young person. There has been a reduction in the numbers of incidents. This is a significant improvement in relation to young people's previous behaviours. Staff are proactive and creative in identifying triggers and developing strategies to reduce incidents of young people going missing from the home. They monitor young people's whereabouts carefully and overall young people are at much less at risk since coming to the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

New staff are recruited in line with organisational recruitment procedures. Employment checks are carried out on staff prior to them taking up post. Therefore, adults working in the home are safe and suitable people to care for young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home provides a physically safe and secure environment. Risk assessments ensure the home is free from hazards. Fire prevention equipment is routinely checked and young people practise fire drills regularly. This ensures the house is free from hazards and young people know what to do in the event of a fire.

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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 Registered Manager provides good leadership and management to the staff team. The operations manager dedicated to the home has an oversight of the functioning of the home and provides support to the manager. The staff team are qualified for their roles in caring for young people and they provide a good level of consistency and continuity of care. Staff say that they feel supported by the manager regarding their training, supervision and support needs.

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Leadership and management

The manager has high aspirations for the home and a realistic understanding of the key strengths and weaknesses. His approach is imaginative and creative and he stimulates staff to be reflective and resourceful. There is a commitment to improve the home and an enthusiastic vision for the future of the service. The manager has addressed previous recommendations. Future developments incorporate young people's ideas and plans to improve the environment. The manager is resourceful in providing a comfortable and homely environment, within the constraints of the budgets available. However, white goods need replacing and the patio is in a poor state of repair.

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Leadership and management

The home has investigated three complaints in the last year. These show response to the complainant and the overall outcome of the complaint, However, one complaint had not been processed in accordance with the home’s policy The complaints procedure is set out in information given about the home. This gives young people, professionals and parents a clear format to address any concerns with the home.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose sets out the facilities provided and includes profiles of the staff members. This gives parents, carers and placing authorities a guide to the service. The staff team work hard to provide a consistent quality of care for young people. External monitoring is good and drives improvement in the home. Internal monitoring is mediocre; this includes a review of the quality of care that has some consultation with stakeholders. However further questionnaires have been sent to professionals involved with the home. The internal monitoring of records within the home is not robust. For example, cleaning routines are not recorded adequately or given a good overview. As a result there were kitchen appliances that required cleaning and this could affect the quality of care provided to young people.

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Leadership and management

Records are of a satisfactory standard, although, there some entries that are unclear and these make the reporting of events difficult to track. This makes monitoring difficult and is not useful for young people wishing to access their individual records. These records are stored securely ensuring confidentiality is maintained. The manager notifies significant events to Ofsted generally within the required timescales. However, on one occasion there has been a significant delay in the home making a notification therefore preventing Ofsted from being fully aware of the events in 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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