Children's Home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC005050 Inspection date 06/01/2014 Inspector Rachel Ruth Britten Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 14/02/2013 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 is a children's home that is part of a large organisation. The home provides care for five boys who have emotional or behavioural difficulties. Education is available on site as the home is also a registered school.

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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 home has not retained its outstanding rating during the period since the last inspection in February 2013. Young people make good, but not exceptional progress in relation to their starting points across all aspects of their welfare and development. Their progress continues to be underpinned by effective, high quality support from a well motivated and committed, consistent staff team. Care planning and practice are still highly personalised to meet the individual needs of each young person. However, highly proactive and skilful inputs to drive outstanding outcomes are less well evidenced in the home environment, in records, and by young people themselves.

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Overall effectiveness

All staff in the home demonstrate a good understanding of safe working practice and young people confirm that unsafe situations and behaviour are well managed by staff. Behaviour incidents and child protection matters are few and are robustly and safely responded to. The boundaries and expectations about group living are consistently followed and young people's progress towards safe, socially appropriate behaviour is an outstanding feature. However, there are inconsistencies in visitor recording and summaries to staff when allegations have been made against them. These shortfalls represent small lapses in the quality of safe care practices.

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Overall effectiveness

Leadership and management arrangements are strong, with improved deputising and succession arrangements in place. These are in response to the Registered Manager's increased responsibilities to oversee other homes in the organisation. Overall, the leadership team are effective at tackling weaknesses and securing improvement through robust monitoring arrangements, continuous training and frequent meetings and briefings. However, consultations with young people who are moving on from the home and with independent reviewing officers (IRO) are not proactive enough. The opportunities these sources provide for learning or to identify strengths and weaknesses are therefore missed.

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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 there is a record of all visitors to the home and to children accommodated in the home, including the names of visitors and the reasons for their visit. (Regulation 29 (1) schedule 4.13) 07/02/2014

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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 that all staff are easily able to access the advice needed to provide a comprehensive service for young people. This specifically applies to ensuring that the advice of the visiting therapist is timely, regular, clearly documented and available to staff to use in their direct care work (NMS 19.7)  ensure that a clear and comprehensive summary of any allegations made against a particular member of staff, including details of how the allegation was followed up and resolved, a record of any action taken and the decisions reached, is kept on the person's confidential file and a copy provided to the person as soon as the investigation is concluded (NMS 20.7)  ensure that the home is well maintained and decorated. This applies particularly to the timely, proactive upkeep of painting and decoration in young people's bedrooms (NMS 10.3)  proactively support and encourage young people to keep appropriate

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Recommendations

memorabilia of their time in the placement. This specifically relates to staff promptly starting records for young people coming into placement and taking every opportunity to help them record significant events and activities (NMS 22.6)  ensure that the views of the child and Independent Reviewing Officer (IRO) are sought regularly on the child's care. This specifically relates to identifying IROs at the outset of every placement and also to utilising the views of both IROs and young people leaving placement, to inform on-going care practice. (NMS 1.4)

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Outcomes for children and young people

There have been eight male young people in placement over the 11 months since the last inspection. All of them have made good progress to develop a positive self- view through supportive and consistent adult relationships with staff in the home. Three young people have moved on positively from the home during 2013, either returning successfully to their families, or moving closer to home within a semi- independent and/or specialised therapeutic context.

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Outcomes for children and young people

For most young people, the incentive provided by a desire to return to their home area has motivated them to re-establish positive and safe family relationships over a period of increasing and positive home contact experiences. Alongside this, their social skills, levels of enjoyment and engagement in the home are well developed and their self-confidence, resilience and achievements have grown. For example, young people have become confident swimmers, have learnt to abseil and have completed useful food hygiene and first aid courses. At the same time, some young people are now better able to articulate their feelings and manage them safely, including feelings of anger, happiness, frustration, confusion and worry.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's educational achievement at the home's own school is good overall, given starting points where previous school attendance was, at best, erratic. Some young people have achieved entry level passes at GCSE and most of them have established some good learning habits and daily routines. One young person said, 'I worry about not doing well in education - I need to work hard.' This provides evidence of a mature understanding of the importance of education and qualifications. Young people also receive good encouragement to attend school daily and to plan for their future education and training. Career ideas are also encouraged by staff who support young people well to access taster experiences, for example, in animal husbandry or the armed forces.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people adopt healthy, active lifestyles and good personal hygiene routines. They are self-motivated to take care of their appearance and enjoy regular exercise playing football, mountain biking and going to the gym. Key health risks from smoking, drug and alcohol misuse are understood by young people and most of them choose not to take these risks. Young people approaching independence are also competent to undertake shopping, cooking, cleaning and some budgeting, so that they are adequately prepared for the practical and life skills needed in adult life. However, young people lack motivation to collect memorabilia of their time in the home. The help they receive from staff to do this has lapsed during recent weeks and months. As a result, young people, especially those newer to the home, are less enthused and engaged than they could be, for example, with Christmas and the experiences and activities happening during the holidays.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people whose behaviour previously put them at risk of offending show outstanding progress. They say they would rather be here than anywhere else if they cannot be at home and they describe their behaviour as 'incredibly better'. Social workers comment that young people's progress is good and that earlier issues regarding running away, violence and destructive behaviour are significantly reduced because young people are able to manage their anger.

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Quality of care

Young people feel that all staff are consistently concerned with them. Their wishes and views clearly influence the running of the home and the delivery of care. For example, young people's views are shared at weekly group meetings, daily group meals, and numerous evening activities. There are constant opportunities for interaction, compromise and choice. One young person said the home is, 'one of the best ones - just a bit out of the way for me.' A former resident said in a letter to all the young people, 'just wanted to let you know that all the staff helped me, especially X and Y - top men - listen to the manager - he knows his job - trust me.'

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy genuinely warm and trusting relationships with staff and are confident to express any concerns either in-house or to a variety of outside professionals. One social worker said, 'I can't fault them (staff)' and another that, 'staff have done wonders with my young person - they do encourage him well, I would say excellently - the care is still consistent there.' However, two young people placed do not know who their IRO is or how to contact them. Staff have not proactively sought this information. As a result, young people cannot easily contact their IRO and the IRO's views do not inform individual care plans or staff care practice between statutory reviews.

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Quality of care

Staff use individualised positive behaviour strategies to support young people in developing skills in managing conflict and developing positive relationships. For example, staff make good use of individual weekly targets and rewards agreed with each young person. This means that young people can succeed through conforming to good daily routines, such as engaging in education and helping with chores and personal hygiene. For example, they might earn rewards to buy a DVD of their choice.

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Quality of care

Staff spend large amounts of individual quality time with young people. They regularly talk with them about the link between their progress towards good social behaviour and the prospect of realising plans to move home or closer to home. Staff focus on clear measureable outcomes which young people understand and respond to. For example, staff diligently and creatively work to engage young people who would rather stay in their bedroom all day. They offer ideas, activities and incentives, for example, about getting young people into good term time habits. As a result, young people's participation levels are good or improving. On the day of inspection they join in with a trip to get their hair cut and go skating.

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Quality of care

For some young people, 'enhanced key work' is also provided, based upon the assessment, advice and therapeutic insights of the organisation's therapist. However, advice provided to staff, for example through attendance at staff team meetings, is not clearly recorded for staff to refer to and use in their care practice. This holds back the staff group in using consistent strategies with young people. It also dilutes the quality of the key work in skilfully and clearly addressing young people's identified difficulties in the light of the advice given.

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Quality of care

The home is appropriately located for the needs of young people who require time away from destructive and/or unsafe environments in order to progress. Its rural setting near a busy main road poses challenges to social participation and on occasions it is inaccessible due to adverse weather. However, contingency plans ensure that young people are always safe, well and transported regularly to good social, sporting and urban activities which they enjoy. The home is maintained generally well and recent improvements to the steep drive have improved the safety of access to the home. However, staff have not ensured that young people's bedrooms are continuously kept homely and well decorated, particularly following periods of damage. This compromises the otherwise clear message of unconditional care that staff give.

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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

There is evidence that the frequency with which young people go missing is minimised and it has reduced over time. For example, the number of missing incidents has gone down by 60% in the second half of 2013 due to the effort and vigilance of staff. Staff take effective action and respond positively to young people upon their return. They are proactive in calling strategy meetings to review any patterns of going missing and an effective response is planned. For example, staff identify triggers such as the changing influences of young people's family circumstances and the mix of young people residing in the home. They then carefully support contact visits and the locations used, bearing these triggers and influences in mind. As a result, young people feel safe in the home and with staff and are choosing not to go missing.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Strong and proactive relationships with the police support and promote the safety of young people. Young people are not engaging in any criminal activity and some of them have seen a positive role model in police officers for the first time while in placement here. Police have recently assisted staff in providing an educative response to racist bullying and staff plan regular, pertinent sessions for young people, for example, on the Sexual Offences Act 2008, fire safety and the illegality of 'e' and 'vapour' cigarettes for young people. As a result of this well informed and joint work, bullying is minimised, young people are learning how to behave safely, and they are not criminalised unnecessarily. Young people are proud of how well they can behave and how they no longer take their frustration or anger out by damaging property or hurting others. However, on a few recent occasions, the reasons for visits from police, therapists and other visitors have not been recorded.

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Safeguarding children and young people

This shortfall has the potential to compromise the usually very safe care practice in the home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people feel safe and are able to confidently make complaints, disclosures or allegations. Staff are well trained in safeguarding and safe care practice and work together openly with the local authority designated officer (LADO), police and social workers. This includes reviewing together all incidents where restraint has occurred, ensuring that lessons are learnt and sharing the feelings arising from these. Overall, practice is reflective and effective to ensure that young people are safe in the home. However, an unsubstantiated allegation against a member of staff has not been promptly summarised in writing for the member of staff after the conclusion of the matter. This shortfall does not immediately or directly impact on young people.

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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's Registered Manager is highly regarded by all staff and the managers of the four other local homes which he oversees in an area manager role. He ensures that the home staff and the leadership group work well together within this home, through the deputy and assistant managers. The whole home leadership team talk about the high expectations of the organisation and their commitment to high standards. Together the leadership team and head office staff effectively assure high standards of recruitment and vetting as well as safe responses to safeguarding and disciplinary matters. The home's deputy is currently undertaking the level five diploma in health and social care and children and young people's services with a view to applying for registration as manager here in the future. This all provides evidence of good management and succession planning which will ensure continuing high standards of care for every young person in the home.

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Leadership and management

The home's monthly visitor is from within the organisation. He commented in October that the 'atmosphere is very good. Staff are motivated and well supervised and have good access to training and information from the manager, who does good monitoring work.' The manager's analysis of the home's trends and patterns and the planning which ensues from it, underpins proactive behaviour management and the home's considerable success in achieving continuous reductions in young people's risk taking behaviour. The manager also ensures that regular consultation with police and social workers takes place to inform the appropriateness of placements and care provision for each individual young person. He also gains young people's views about individual staff to inform the annual appraisal process. However, the manager is not consulting regularly with IROs to elicit their views or gaining feedback from young people when they leave the home. These are minor missed opportunities to gather

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Leadership and management

and cross reference the views of others to inform the development of the home and its work with individual young people.

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Leadership and management

A culture of training and learning is continuously promoted by the manager and provides a strong indirect role model to young people about the importance of continuing to listen and learn. For example, the assistant manager has completed a teaching assistant award to facilitate improved and seamless support to young people's education in the home's own school. Similarly, other staff have recently undertaken training in child protection; supervising contact visits; climbing awards and national minimum standards. The manager has devised a challenging and informative safeguarding refresher training course which is being utilised variously with staff in the organisation to ensure staff's continuing confidence about child protection. Overall, this culture of training underpins good quality care in the home and assures a motivated and well trained staff group.

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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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