Living Springs

Living Springs Inspection report for residential family centre

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Unique reference number SC047184 Inspection date 21/01/2014 Inspector Suzanne Young Type of inspection Full

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Setting address Barratts Coppice Farmhouse, Bridgnorth Road, Stourton, Stourbridge, DY7 6QY

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Telephone number 01384 872 817 Email info@livingsprings.co.uk Registered person Living Springs Registered manager Jane Chapman Responsible individual Jane Chapman Date of last inspection 17/11/2010 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 centre provides accommodation and assessment for up to nine families. The service operates as a registered charitable company based on the Christian ethos. The centre provides supported living accommodation for families alongside those receiving an assessment. A community based parenting assessment service is also offered in clients' own homes.

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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

The centre is highly effective. Assessments of families are rigorous and recommendations to court are based on comprehensive evidence. Parents are fully engaged in the assessment and care planning process. The manager and staff are effective in supporting and developing families’ knowledge and skills. Staff provide consistently high quality of care and promote positive relationships with parents and children. One legal representative stated, ‘I rate the centre exceptionally highly. The whole environment is set up to help people. There is intensive supervision and a level of independence which families can move into’.

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Overall effectiveness

Families and children are safe. This is underpinned by effective training, systems and procedures. Risk assessments are completed prior to and on admission to the centre. These contribute to the safety and well-being of children, parents and staff in the centre.

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Overall effectiveness

The centre is well managed and staffed. Since the last inspection the centre has expanded considerably and can now accept nine families. The manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the centre and drives improvement through thorough monitoring and evaluation of the centre. Three statutory requirements have been made which are administrative and do not impact negatively on the safety of children.

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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, Residential Family Centres Regulations 2002 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2002) produce a written guide to the residential family centre (the resident's guide) which shall include the address and telephone number of the Chief Inspector (Regulation 4(3)) 28/02/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2002) shall supply to the Chief Inspector a report in respect of any review conducted for the purposes of reviewing and improving the quality of care at the residential family centre (Regulation 23 (2)) 28/02/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2002) shall supply a copy of the monthly report by the independent visitor to the Chief Inspector. (Regulation 25(5)) 28/02/2014

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure the outside areas are appropriate for children of all ages. (NMS 11.3)

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Quality of assessment

The centre use the assessment model based on the Framework for Assessment of Children in Need and their Families. Assessments are non-judgemental and analytical. Reports are well evidenced, balanced and positive with the safety of children at the centre of the assessment. They give clear guidance and information to court to enable decisions to be made following the assessment. One legal representative stated, ‘They make recommendations based on good assessments. Courts feel secure in making judgements based on their assessments.’

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Quality of assessment

The service has developed strong links with legal, social work and health professionals. One placing social worker stated, ‘Staff communicate well with me.’ Another social worker stated, ‘I have a very positive experience both with the level of interaction and in the quality of reports.’

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Quality of assessment

Parents are fully involved and engaged in the assessment process. Parents, placing social workers and legal representatives contribute to weekly progress meetings to review the placement plan and make any changes to the assessment process. This ensures assessments are undertaken in a transparent manner with parents and external professionals who are able to contribute and challenge the assessment process.

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Quality of assessment

Electronic surveillance is not used for the purposes of the assessment process. CCTV cameras, however, are used in the car park and external areas of the centre. Baby monitors are used by families and occasionally by staff within the centre. Families are fully are of the use of CCTV and baby monitors and these do not intrude on the privacy of the parents.

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Quality of assessment

Each family has a placement plan which informs the assessment. These plans detail information needed about the support each family requires and how to work with the family to assess parenting capacity. The Registered Manager is in the process of reviewing the placement plan to ensure these more robust.

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Quality of care, support and guidance

The quality of the care, support and guidance is good .

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Quality of care, support and guidance

The needs of children and families are central to the centre. Whenever possible families enter and leave the family assessment centre in a planned way. If the admission is planned in advance families are able to visit the centre before they stay. On admission, families are given information which enables them to be well informed about the rules and expectations of the centre.

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Quality of care, support and guidance

The living accommodation and environment within the centre is of an extremely high quality. Families live in either one of the two flats within the main building or in one of the one or two bedroomed flats located within a courtyard at the rear of the main building. All the flats are self-contained and are furnished to a high standard. The centre has several communal areas for families to be able to meet together. There is a laundry room for residents use and a very well equipped playroom with sensory room attached which families can access on a daily basis. Outside there is a good sized garden with play equipment. Children are supervised at all times while out of the flats by their parents or staff. Guidance is given in the residents guide to ensure children do not roam onto a small staff car parking area at the rear of the centre. This is risk assessed and is consistent with a domestic setting. There is, however, no

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Quality of care, support and guidance

physical boundary to prevent children from roaming onto the car park.

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Quality of care, support and guidance

Families enjoy good relationships with staff based on mutual respect. Parents say they have ‘very good relationships with staff… staff are there to help you.’ The only concern parents expressed was that the nearest shops were a bus ride away from the centre. There is a good level of consultation with families. Families complete regular feedback forms to express their views about their placement and the running of the centre. Weekly residents meetings also enable families to be able to discuss any concerns they have about the centre with staff and the manager. The residents meetings are also used to help support and educate families with topics, such as, toy safety and safety in the garden being discussed. Families individual needs and requirements are identified in care planning and are positively addressed through one-to-one and groups sessions. Staff have a good knowledge of parenting skills to support and help develop families in practical daily

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Quality of care, support and guidance

living skills. Parents are also supported to be responsive to their children’s emotional, social and health needs. The centre has a close working relationship with health professionals and a health visitor visits the centre on a weekly basis.

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Safeguarding children and parents

The service is good at keeping children and parents safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and parents

Families say they feel safe within the centre. The centre has clear children and vulnerable adults safeguarding procedures and staff receive a variety of internal and external safeguarding training. This ensures staff are knowledgeable about what action to take if a child or vulnerable adult should be at risk of abuse or go missing and supports parents to protect their children from harm, abuse and neglect. The manager notifies the appropriate agencies when an incident has occurred.

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Safeguarding children and parents

Staff developed strong working relationships with the families and with other agencies, such as, the courts and placing social workers. This helps promote the safety of children and vulnerable adults. One placing social worker stated ‘Staff have a good working relationship with families. It is a safe environment.’

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Safeguarding children and parents

Information gained from placing authorities together with risk assessments completed when families’ are admitted form a part of the placement planning process. These contribute to the safety and well-being of children, parents and staff in the centre.

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Safeguarding children and parents

Recruitment processes are robust. All staff and volunteers working with families are carefully selected and vetted and receive a detailed induction period. This prevents unsuitable people from being recruited and working at the centre and placing children and vulnerable adults at risk of harm.

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Safeguarding children and parents

Health and safety is managed well at the centre. Regular fire checks and evacuation drills ensure all staff and families are aware of how to keep themselves safe. Environmental risk assessments are undertaken and reviewed on a regular basis. Medication is also managed safely. Staff keep accurate records of the administration of medication to children and parents are risk assessed before being able to keep and administer medication to children. All medicines are safely stored in locked cabinets.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the residential family centre are adequate .

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Leadership and management

The centre is well managed by the founder of the organisation who is a qualified and experienced social worker. The staff team have a good level of expertise and are appropriately qualified. Staff feel well supported and are supervised on a regular basis. One member of staff commented, ‘They care about staff. The supervision structure is excellent.’ Staff receive a high level of training in partnership with a local authority which enables them to provide good quality assessments and meet the needs of children and parents in the centre. Staff meetings also include a training element often involving outside speakers.

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Leadership and management

The manager demonstrates a capacity for continuing improvement through robust monitoring procedures. These are evaluated on a six monthly basis through a thorough review of the centre’s operations. This is used to drive improvements and improve the quality of care to residents and children. The centre is also visited on a monthly basis by a person independent of the day-to-day management of the centre. These reports feed into the manager's overall monitoring of the centre. Both the independent visitor’s reports and the managers monitoring reports, however, are not being sent into Ofsted as required in legislation.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose gives a clear picture of the services and functions of the centre. The centre has a resident’s guide which includes a summary of the Statement of Purpose and is accessible to those using the service. This details how they may make a complaint but does not include an accurate address and telephone number for Ofsted should parents wish to raise a concern.

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Leadership and management

The two requirements and five recommendations made at the last inspection. were examined at a monitoring visit to vary the registration of the service from six families to nine families. These had all been responded to appropriately.

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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 inspection framework and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of residential family centres.

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