Children's Home run by Future In Mind Limited in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC063653 Inspection date 18/12/2013 Inspector Julian Mason Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 06/03/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This privately owned home provides care and accommodation for up to two young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The service provides a specialist therapeutic programme and staff practise therapeutic techniques under supervision of a qualified therapist.

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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

Young people receive an excellent standard of care that is highly personalised. This results in them making good progress in a range of areas such as their emotional well-being, social interactions and standards of behaviour. A continuous system of monitoring and evaluation operates in a constructive and beneficial way, which fully involves young people and key professionals. This helps the manager track each young person’s progress against agreed aims and objectives for each placement. Young people’s feedback to the home reflects that it is a very safe place to be and that their well-being is prioritised. They are engaged in productive and reflective conversations, which helps them think about their own circumstances and where they want to be in the future.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff have a clear focus on developing young people’s skills and confidence, which is based on their respective starting points and helps them make positive progress. The staff team are clear about their roles and responsibilities, which makes the home a safe place to be. Young people are fully involved in planning for their care and how the home delivers its services. The manager provides effective day-to-day leadership, which results in staff being clearly focused and guided in meeting the needs of young people. Young people benefit from living in a home that is consistently managed and organised to achieve the best possible outcomes.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are good . Young people make good progress in many aspects of their lives because they benefit from well-planned care that is closely monitored. This ensures that the service adapts to changing needs and priorities. Young people’s recovery from traumatic and difficult experiences is encouraged and facilitated by a strong therapeutic approach that is imbedded into the daily routines of the home. This presents young people with many opportunities to explore their histories and experiences, which support a greater understanding and awareness about their past and themselves. As a result of these arrangements, young people’s emotional well- being, self-esteem and confidence grow. Young people also become more resilient and responsible as they progress through the defined therapeutic stages of their individual programmes.

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Outcomes for children and young people

A key strength of the service is the high expectations the home has of each young person’s potential to progress and develop. Young people are shown from the beginning that they are valued as individuals and have the potential to succeed. Sensitive issues are addressed methodically and professionally and in ways that young people accept because their engagement with staff remains high. This means they learn to value themselves and have confidence in the adults around them. A consistent approach to health care ensures that young people receive specialist as well as routine health care as soon as it is needed.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Educational achievement and young people's potential is effectively promoted by staff because they are knowledgeable and aware of individual needs and arrangements. This approach is reinforced by the good relationships with schools that ensure young people's daily attendance and progress in known. This benefits young people greatly as they experience support and help that is tailored to each of them and their learning needs. Staff promote and encourage good attendance because they value and understand the benefits of education. Some young people have been assessed as having the ability to obtain a number of GCSE passes and staff are doing everything possible to support this potential success. Where young people sometimes struggle with their attendance and engagement the manager is proactive in helping to devise and implement new programmes to support improvements.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The range of activities on offer to young people is very good. Young people have lots of choice and their preferences are frequently incorporated into the home’s routines. Young people are fully supported to stay in-touch with people in their lives who are important to them. Staff pay particular attention to what young people have to say about these arrangements to ensure everyone is safe and that contact is appropriately facilitated and monitored where necessary.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Great care is taken to ensure young people learn the things they needed to know to live independent lives in the future. Detailed plans are drawn up which young people help to design and for staff to follow. The home creates arrangements and circumstances where young people use and develop their life skills in practical ways. For instance, they are responsible for getting themselves up in the morning and getting to school on their own, they also carry out domestic routines that are matched to living independently. Young people’s confidence grows because of the effective coaching and mentoring practices.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people experience positive and constructive relationships with staff because care and support is very well matched to each individual. The quality of care is excellent because of the insight and understanding staff have about each young person’s needs and why they are in care. Open and trusting relationships are encouraged that help build cooperative partnerships between staff and young people. Staff display effective skills when helping young people to modify and improve their behaviours and use a mix of rewards and sanctions to foster positive change that will help them in the future. Professionals identify that the quality of care is a key strength of the service, which results in all young people making good progress in their lives. One professional stating, ‘the young person has experienced the most stable period since becoming a child in care.’

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from an ordered and family style atmosphere within the home. Staff take notice of the progress made by young people and regularly give praise and celebrate achievement. This helps promote young people’s self-esteem and confidence. Young people are treated as individuals and each case record reflects up-to-date information about their needs that is unique and representative of their backgrounds and identity. This information helps staff learn about young people and how best to look after them. Staff use a range of ways to do this that best suits young people, from attending meetings through to less formal consultation arrangements with key workers. Because of this approach, young people’s views, wishes and feelings are well known and incorporated into their daily care and future plans. Staff successfully focus on enabling open communication that effectively and consistently influences the running of the home.

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Quality of care

Staff are alert and responsive to any concerns young people may express about their care or how the home operates. Few complaints are made as staff are quick to resolve any concerns or worries that young people have. Young people know how to make a complaint and can access independent help to do this if needed.

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Quality of care

Young people are provided with safe and comfortable accommodation, which is domestic in style and layout. The location of the property provides young people with good access to local facilities and public transport. The accommodation is maintained to a good standard and it is kept clean and tidy. Young people are provided with individual bedrooms, which are suitably maintained and personalised to their own tastes. They also have access to a number of communal rooms, which gives them a choice of how they spend their recreational and leisure time.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe. The manager and staff team have good systems in place to ensure young people are protected from harm. This includes good systems that are well understood for reporting safety concerns to outside agencies. As a result, young people are safe in the home and with the staff who look after them. Young people’s behaviour and relationships are closely monitored to ensure the home continues to provide an environment of comfort and safety for all. The use of social media is monitored closely and incorporated into the range of discussions that staff have with young people about personal safety and risk taking behaviours. Because of this focus, young people’s online safety is continually assessed, balancing any risks with the need to promote appropriate levels of independence and autonomy.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are kept safe and protected from harm. They learn to take responsibility for their actions by considering the consequences and outcomes of their choices, behaviours and attitudes. Young people quickly learn that staff take responsibility for setting safe boundaries to ensure expectations around behaviour are clear. Staff compile detailed and individual strategies taking into account young people’s backgrounds and areas for development. Effectiveness and success are demonstrated by particularly low levels of young people being absent without authority, of physical interventions and of bullying. The environment allows young people to have fun but also involves them in taking personal responsibility.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Positive steps are taken to ensure young people’s home environment is safe. For instance, frequent health and safety checks are completed; fire equipment is serviced and checked regularly and any hazards are reported quickly so they can be fixed. For example, the fire alarm system has been upgrade and arrangements to leave the building in case of an emergency have been improved. The home also carries out a range of environmental and activity-based assessments to help manage and reduce any risks to staff and young people that have been identified. One professional identifying, ‘the home regularly reviews risk assessments and works with the young people to progress plans but ensuring their safety.’ Young people benefit from living in a home that is clean, tidy and well maintained.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people’s safety is further protected by well-established recruitment procedures that ensure only suitable people are employed to work at the home. Additionally, all staff are trained in a number of important practice areas that relate to safeguarding, child protection and behaviour management. The home’s approach to keeping young people safe is regularly discussed in team and one-to-one meetings to ensure an informed and consistent approach is maintained.

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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 under temporary day-to-day management as the Registered Manager is on maternity leave until the beginning of February 2014. Young people continue to benefit from living in a home that is effectively and efficiently managed by a suitably experienced and skilled manager who has the support and respect of the staff team. The team communicate well with each other to ensure everyone is kept up-to-date with new and changing information about young people’s needs and circumstances. This is done in a variety of ways, which are effective in practice such as well- structured daily handovers, through to more formal team meetings. Staff talk positively about the support they receive stating, ‘it’s a good team, everyone works well together.’ Supervision and appraisal meetings are carried out on a regular basis, which enables them to reflect on their daily practice and relationships with young people. Staff access a good range training and development opportunities that

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Leadership and management

enhances their individual skills and knowledge. For example, they learn about specific therapeutic models that are used in the home and have access to a suitably qualified therapist who helps them shape their practice around the needs of each young person.

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Leadership and management

Young people are cared for in line with the home’s current Statement of Purpose. Staff work well together and are a consistent and committed team that has a positive impact on young people’s progress and development. The team is a mix of new and experienced staff who are either qualified or studying to gain the necessary qualification. Staff are organised and supported in a way that ensures the needs of young people are consistently met. For instance, levels of staffing are adjusted according to the needs and circumstances of the resident group. The manager makes appropriate notifications to the relevant bodies as required ensuring important information is shared with the right professionals about young people’s welfare and safety.

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Leadership and management

The manager and senior managers within the provider organisation have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for improvement. The manager carries out regular checks on key areas of the home’s operation to ensure young people’s needs are being met. In addition, information is received in monthly monitoring reports that are also produced following a visit from an organisational representative. Young people are regularly canvased for their views about the home and their experiences of being in care. This feedback along with other information shared with the home is used to develop and shape its services for the current and future young people. Two recommendations were made at the last inspection and these have been addressed through improved administration practices.

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Leadership and management

Staff and managers ensure records and case files are kept up to date and fully contribute to an understanding of a young person’s life during their stay at the home. Significant events that occur that relate to young people’s safety are shared with the appropriate agencies and clearly detail the events and actions taken to safeguard and protect.

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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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