Children's Home run by One To One Crisis Intervention Ltd in Devon

Unique reference number SC068205 Inspection date 01/11/2013 Inspector Sharron Escott Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 11/03/2013 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

This children’s home provides care and accommodation for one young person of either gender, who has emotional or behavioural difficulties. The property is one of a group of services run by an independent 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 good .

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Overall effectiveness

This is a good home. The staff team work together effectively to achieve outstanding outcomes for young people. Young people feel positive about this placement and acknowledge that staff work hard to keep them safe and prepare them to move on. Comments from young people include: 'I like it here, the care staff are nice, I enjoy spending time with them. I feel safe at this home.'

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Overall effectiveness

Overall, relationships between staff and young people are good, sometimes outstanding. Staff are highly motivated to support young people to achieve good outcomes from their placement. Safeguarding practice is robust and multi-agency working is excellent. This enables young people to benefit from a variety of services that support their safety, health and education.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people make good progress taking into account their starting point at the time of placement. Young people have a detailed placement plan and risk assessments which have been developed by the home. This detailed document includes supporting young people to make appropriate choices, recognise risks, build self- respect and have a more positive self-view. While statutory visits are held and well attended, the service struggles to acquire the local authority care plans, consents and all associated current documentation. Understandably, this concerns the acting manager as he feels he is not suitably informed of the local authority's long term care planning requirements.

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Overall effectiveness

There are some areas identified for further improvement. These include: ensuring monitoring regulation 33 visits take place within the required time scales and the report is forwarded to Ofsted ;ensuring that local authority looked after care plans and minutes from meetings are available and accessible on the young person’s files; and ensuring all staff recruitment, vetting and training information is available within the home; supervisions take place and the records kept within the home as required by the home's own policies and procedures.

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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 a record in permanent form is maintained in respect of each child who is accommodated in a children's home, which includes the information, documents and records specified in Schedule 3 relating to that child and is kept up to date. (Regulation 28 1(12 16 17 18 19 )) 06/12/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure visits take place once a month and be unannounced, the person shall interview with their consent and in private children accommodated there and person's working at the home. A copy of the report is supplied to HMCI (Regulation 33 (3)(4)(a)(4)(a)) 17/12/2013

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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 the home has a record of the recruitment and vetting checks which have been carried out on those working for the home (NMS 16.3)  ensure that the training programme includes specialist training to provide skills for staff to meet the changing needs of the children (NMS 18.1)  ensure the written record of supervisions kept by the home details the time, date, and length of each supervision for each member of staff, including the registered person. The record is signed by the member of staff and the supervisor at the end of the supervision (NMS 19.5)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are outstanding . Young people attend full time further education provisions. Their attendance and participation is exceptional. Staff ensure there are robust and fluent communication systems with the education provision, local authority and health services. This ensures a holistic approach to meet young people's health, well being and learning opportunities.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are well supported to develop a positive self-view, sharing their concerns and learning practical daily living skills that are appropriate to their age and understanding. As a result, their confidence is growing and care plan targets are consistently met. There have been outstanding measurable outcomes achieved in these areas that include incidents reducing significantly and self-care skills developed through imaginative care planning. As a result, young people are thriving and self- motivated. A visiting social worker said,' the young person has achieved an extraordinary amount in the time he has been at the home. This has been achieved because he feels safe, he has stability and the care staff are focused on meeting his needs. They do not use sanctions to restore power, they take the time to discuss, reflect and offer guidance to change behaviours.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s health is promoted by the good support and excellent joint agency working with supporting health care and educational professional's. Young people receive regular medical checks. They have good access to both universal and specialist health care services to meet their individual health needs . All care staff have undertaken medication training. The records, storage and handling of medication is managed well.

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Quality of care

Young people really thrive within this nurturing and supportive environment. A visiting social worker said, ' I wish I could take credit for finding this placement, the care provided is focused on meeting young people's needs. Every time I visit I see improvement, I would go as far as saying progress and achievements met are exceptional. At this rate future prospects for the young people will be phenomenal, exceeding all our expectations '

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from a competent and enthusiastic staff team who provide innovative care which supports them in their placement. Sanctions imposed are minimal. Behaviour management is focused on praise, encouragement and rewards. As a result young people's confidence, self esteem and resilience has developed considerably. Relationships between staff and young people are friendly, positive and good-natured with lots of humour. There are clear pathways regarding how to make a complaint and young people are happy with the way staff respond to any areas of concern.

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Quality of care

Admission procedures for young people are excellent. Prior to placement the manager and staff team meet all young people. Further visits to the home are facilitated and include the young people assisting staff in decorating their room, they are encouraged to select, colours, soft furnishing and furniture of their choice. As a result, young people take pride in their environment.

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Quality of care

The home has developed their own care plan for young people which is informative. They are detailed and identify individualised needs taking into account culture, race, religion and gender. Personalised targets are identified with the young people and are realistic. These documents have successfully assisted staff to ensure young people thrive and achieve positive outcomes. However, the home does not have a copy of the local authority's care plans and associated targets and consents. The manager has requested these documents but still has not received a copy of these.

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Quality of care

Young people engage in house activities that include Lego, air fix models, consoles and relaxation. Young people were extremely positive about their home and the care staff who look after them.

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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 protected from having contact with unsuitable people. Visitors are vetted and identification is checked before entry is allowed. Quick guides and useful telephone numbers are easily accessible for all staff.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people report that they feel safe in the home. Robust and effective safety measures are in place to ensure young people feel safe and they are protected from harm. Warm respectful relationships established has enabled young people to identify a number of individual staff who they can speak to speak to if they have any concerns or any anxieties, their privacy is respected.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Behaviour management techniques are highly effective. Young people do not engage in high risk taking behaviours. There been no incidents of physical restraint or young people being absent without permission since the last inspection which is reflected in the outstanding outcomes and achievements made by the young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Relationships with the local police community officer are established and detailed individual protocols have been developed to ensure safeguarding strategies are specific and personal to the individual young person.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The complaints system is accessible to young people within the young person’s guide. Young people say that they currently do not have any concerns or complaints and if they do are confident that these would be taken seriously.

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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

Since the last full inspection in October 2012 the Registered Manager has been on maternity leave. An acting manager has been appointed who is highly committed, enthusiastic and experienced in providing a quality service.

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Leadership and management

The effective management of the home underpins the excellent outcomes achieved for young people. The staff team ensure that young people receive continuity of care from a dedicated staff team of five and the manager. They are competent, positive, motivated and have a strong commitment to provide consistent support for young people. The team endeavours to cover leave and sickness in house with minimal support from carers redeployed from the wider organisation. Redeployment has been minimal and continuity of care is maintained.

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Leadership and management

The core staff team benefit from regular supervision and their performance appraised. The manager is confident that redeployed staff have the required skills and experienced to meet the needs of the young people. However; Verification of staff skills, qualifications and the safe recruitment practices could not be confirmed by the manager for those who have been redeployed to the home as they have not personally verified these. Records are held at the central office and not in the home. The organisation are reviewing how this shortfall can be rectified.

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Leadership and management

The manager and care team attend mandatory training which is refreshed regularly. They received additional clinical support and guidance fortnightly. In addition, the team have attended basic specialist training to promote their professional development, skills and knowledge. The manager and staff team recognise the importance and need for continued specialist training that will enable them to meet the changing and developing needs of the young people in placement.

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Leadership and management

Staff are fully supported by being provided with regular supervision and their performance appraised annually. Records of supervision and appraisal of performance for the manager are not held at the home, as a result the frequency and quality of supervision for the manager could not be verified during the inspection.

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Leadership and management

Record keeping is clear with good systems in place that promote shared communication and care plan targets are reviewed and adjusted to meet the changing needs of the young people. The manager monitors the documents held within the home regularly, these detail patterns and trends of behaviour and contribute to the development of the home. However, independent regulation 33 visits are not currently being undertaken within the required time scales and forwarded to Ofsted as per regulatory requirements.

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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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