Children's Home run by Channels and Choices Kent LLP in Kent

Unique reference number SC385631 Inspection date 18/12/2013 Inspector Anna Williams 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

The home is registered to provide care for no more than four young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is run by a partnership company.

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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 living in this home achieve outstanding outcomes across all aspects of their lives. They engage in wide and varied activities which benefits their self-esteem and confidence. The quality of care provided is outstanding. Young people say they feel safe and are positive about the staff and care they receive. Feedback from placing authorities and family members is overwhelmingly positive. Young people receive individualised care which fully meets their unique needs. Diversity is celebrated within the home. A strong 'respect for others' ethos is promoted and followed in practice. This creates a warm, nurturing environment which young people live in.

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Overall effectiveness

This home has been without a Registered Manager since the end of April 2013. This has impacted negatively on the leadership and management of the home. The provider organisation has remained pro-active at monitoring the service since April 2013. Through this close internal scrutiny, outcomes for young people and the quality of care have not been affected. However, the shortfalls identified within this inspection all relate to the organisation and overall running of the home. Supervision for staff has not been delivered consistently for a number of months. Training for some staff in core skills has not been completed. Three significant events relating to the welfare of young people, while actioned appropriately, were not notified to Ofsted in line with regulations.

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Overall effectiveness

Following the withdrawal of one managers application, a newly appointed manager has been in post for six weeks. Ofsted have not yet received an application from this manager. The new manager is committed to improving standards within the home. She acknowledges she is still learning the strengths and weaknesses of the service.

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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 staff receive appropriate training (Regulation 27 (4) (a)) 03/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that staff receive supervision (Regulation 27 (4) (a)) 03/03/2014

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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)) 03/03/2014

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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 there is 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)  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)

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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 develop a positive self-view and build self-esteem through excellent key working systems. Young people enjoy spending time with staff and build attachments. They talk to staff about anything that is worrying them, their current situation and their past. A young person comments ‘before I came to live here I felt tangled and heavy and now I feel free.’ A placing social worker comments ‘a massive move forward is the fact that [child] wants to now speak about their past and deal with it. Before [child] used to get angry and break down and cry, or be violent.’ Young people make exceptional progress across all aspects of their lives. A placing social worker comments ‘the home have really understood [child] very quickly, and are letting [the child] be a child. They provide imaginative play and age appropriate toys. It is the replication of family life that [child] really needed’. Some young people

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Outcomes for children and young people

no longer engage in risk taking behaviours, such as going missing. This significantly benefits their overall safety and welfare. All the young people show substantial and sustained progress in managing their behaviours and emotions. A young person comments ‘I have stopped feeling so angry now.’

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people talk positively of the activities and clubs they are involved in. Comments from young people include ‘I want to go and see [well-known pop band] again, it was the best night ever’ and ‘I enjoyed the house holiday to the new forest, we did lots of activities there.’ Some young people attend local football clubs and uniformed organisations. This provides opportunities to make new friends. Some young people attend individual guitar and piano lessons. This promotes personal talents. The range of activities young people engage in is extensive, including horse riding, drama club, roller discos, teen gym, pantomime trip, charity events and indoor activities such as arts and crafts. This provides young people with wide- ranging opportunities to be positively involved in the local area and community.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people demonstrate they enjoy a healthy lifestyle, through engaging in regular physical activity and eating a balanced diet. Some young people no longer smoke since living at the home. Other young people have made significant progress with managing their own hygiene and appearance. This benefits their physical well- being now and in the future. Young people engage well with daily living skills which are promoted in the home. These include daily chores, washing and life skills, such as cooking. Young people learn skills as appropriate to their age and understanding. This helps them as they move toward adulthood.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All the young people attend school full-time. They are all making outstanding progress educationally, considering individual starting points. Some young people undertake regular volunteer work at weekends. This provides them with responsibility and life experiences.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people maintain attachments to those important to them through formal contact arrangements. Staff carefully plan these opportunities with families and the young people. Consideration is given to the location, supervision and focus of the meeting to promote a positive contact opportunity for all involved. Consequently, contact for all young people is successful. Some young people have re-established contact with significant people after long periods apart. This assists young people in maintaining appropriate contact with those significant to them.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from excellent relationships with staff. Regular key working sessions build appropriate attachments between young people and members of the team. Young people are extremely positive about the staff within the home. They identify staff they would talk to if worried. Comments from young people include ‘the staff, I feel they really care about me here. I trust these guys.’ Placing social worker comments include ‘I feel the staff are really dedicated to the children, they all know the children really well’ and ‘when I leave the home, I have a good feeling, I know [child] is safe and the home is run like a family home, with a positive atmosphere.’

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Quality of care

Young people’s individual needs are clearly identified within care planning documents. These include a personalised house placement plan, 24 hour therapeutic treatment plan, health plan and risk assessment. Young people are involved in the creation and review of these documents and sign to show their understanding. These documents are regularly reviewed and updated following any significant event. This comprehensive care planning ensures young people’s personal needs are clearly identified and fully met.

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Quality of care

Matters relating to young people’s heritage and culture are well-documented. Staff knowledge of each child’s history is excellent. Staff undertake individual projects with young people to explore and learn about their ethnicity. A placing social worker comments ‘the home did a project with [child] about their background, around food and culture and learning about customs. This was done in a very accessible way for [child] and is very important to [child].’ A visual diversity board within the home also celebrates different significant world events and religions. This excellent practice promotes learning and discussion about diversity.

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Quality of care

Young people’s views are actively sought on a daily basis through house meetings. The minutes of these meetings are written by the young people. Feedback is sought regularly on menus, activity choices and equipment needed for the home. Through these meetings young people have had their bedrooms redecorated and requested specific lessons and sports equipment. Young people know how to complain. Complaints since the last inspection have been suitably investigated and fully resolved. This demonstrates to young people that their views and wishes are important and listened to.

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Quality of care

Staff actively and effectively promote educational achievement and attendance for all the young people. Staff work flexibly to allow young people to attend after school clubs and social occasions. Staff attend school events which young people are involved in. This demonstrates to young people that staff are interested in their achievements and celebrate success together. Staff enthusiastically encourage young people to try new activities and hobbies. A placing social worker comments 'the holiday trip went brilliantly. That was down to good planning, high levels of staff and lots of preparation by the home with [child].' This approach is highly successful with engaging young people in a wide range of excellent opportunities.

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Quality of care

Systems for the administration, storage and disposal of medication are safe and effective. Young people’s health needs are clearly identified in health plans and regularly monitored. Staff support young people to attend routine health appointments. Young people approaching puberty receive sensitive support and guidance. Some young people engage in specific therapeutic sessions offered. This ensures that young people’s physical, emotional and psychological health needs are fully met.

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Quality of care

The home and grounds are maintained to an exceedingly high standard. One young person comments ‘what I like about this house is that it feels like a home, not just the furniture, but the people here too.’ The environment is very homely, comfortable, with high-quality furnishings. The home provides ample space for young people to relax, study and play. Young people’s bedrooms are highly individualised and creative in presentation. Young people are fully involved in the design and decoration of their rooms. They display photos, posters and mementos on the walls. The home is located close to local shops and leisure facilities. This promotes young people’s engagement with the local community.

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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 say they feel safe. They do not identify bullying as an issue within the home. Any allegations or suspicions of harm are appropriately shared with external agencies in a timely manner. However, since the last inspection there have been three significant events relating to the welfare and safety of young people which have not been notified to Ofsted. This means the regulator is not kept fully up-to- date with incidents relating to the protection of young people in the home. Actions taken following any referrals are prompt and well-recorded. Staff who are subject of an allegation are suitably supported by the organisation.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Good health and safety routines protect young people and all who visit the home. Equipment is regularly safety tested. The home is well-maintained. Any potential hazard is identified and swift action removes it. Young people take part in regular fire drills at different times of the day. This ensures they know what to do in case of an emergency.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Since the last inspection, there have been two incidents when a young person was reported missing to the local police. Staff took prompt and appropriate action to locate the young person. Post-incident reflection with young people following such incidents is recorded and learnt from. This ensures effective steps are taken to ensure young people’s safety when away from the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The use of physical intervention within the home is reducing. There have been 64 restraints since the last visit in March 2013. These involve four different young people. Staff are all trained in a suitable behaviour management technique. The quality of physical intervention recording is generally good. However, scrutiny of the log book by the day-to-day manager has been repetitive and minimal within some entries. This lacks an individualised evaluation of the incident to ensure any hold is in line with regulatory requirements. This monitoring has improved in recent weeks. Young people engage with the rewards systems in place. These are uniquely created with the young people. They achieve prizes through a visual points chart. This has been very successful in modifying challenging behaviours.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are safeguarded by the development and use of excellent staff recruitment procedures. All references and past employment are thoroughly checked and the human resources manager evidences all actions on the files. Young people are protected from being cared for by people who may pose a risk to them.

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Leadership and management

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

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Leadership and management

The home has not had a Registered Manager since the end of April 2013. One manager took over the day-to-day running of the home for six months. Within this time, Ofsted did not receive a complete application for the position of Registered Manager. Since the start of November 2013, a new appointment has been made. Ofsted have not received a completed application pack for this new manager. This means the home has been without a Registered Manager for over 26 weeks. This does not offer the young people and staff consistency and stable leadership.

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Leadership and management

The home has a statement of purpose which adequately describes the facilities and ethos of the home. This ensures parents, carers and placing authorities are clear about the aims and objectives of the service. However, staff are not receiving regular formal supervision in line with the Statement of Purpose. Formal one-to-one supervision has been sporadic for all staff for a number of months. This does not ensure that all staff receive consistent and adequate support.

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Leadership and management

A previous recommendation to ensure that young people are consistently offered the opportunity to be examined by a registered nurse or medical practitioner has been fully met. Records demonstrate young people are now reliably given access to medical support and what their response is. Since the last inspection, staff have taken part in a workshop focused on sexual health and communicable diseases. This enhances staff knowledge and the previous recommendation is fully met.

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Leadership and management

Young people's records are maintained to a good standard and stored securely. They sensitively document young people's lives and achievements within the home. Young people are encouraged to, and do, add their own statements to their files. This ensures that young people's lives within the home are positively captured for now and in their future.

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Leadership and management

There have been five staff who left the home and five staff who have joined since March 2013. Staffing levels are high, with one-to-one support provided to young people within waking hours. 60% of staff in the team currently hold a level 3 or equivalent childcare qualification. Of the remaining staff, some are completing the award, some are waiting to enrol and two staff are within the six months following the confirmation of their permanent contract. This demonstrates that the home is now meeting the national minimum standard relating to the level 3 childcare qualifications. All staff hold up-to-date certificates in safeguarding and behaviour management training. However, some staff have not completed on line core training courses in topics such as fire awareness, food hygiene and, health and safety. This does not ensure all staff on a shift have basic skills across key areas. Positively, since the last inspection, all shift leaders now hold an advanced first aid qualification.

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Leadership and management

External monitoring visits take place in line with regulatory requirements. These capture young people’s views on the quality of care. Internal management reports are completed quarterly and submitted to Ofsted. These contain evaluation around matters such as medication and care plans, plus further consultation with young people, parents and placing authorities.

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Leadership and management

The organisation also completes six-weekly 'team development plans' which also involve feedback from young people. However, these focus more on monitoring the current situation within the home. The new manager is currently formulating a medium to long term development plan for the team. This focuses on improving the overall functioning of the home and maintaining excellent outcomes 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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