Children's Home run by Castle Homes Care Limited in Cheshire West and Chester

Unique reference number SC032083 Inspection date 22/01/2014 Inspector Sue Winson Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 31/10/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home accommodates two young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties. It is run by a private company which has other homes in the area.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making satisfactory progress .

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Progress

At the full inspection on 31/10/2013 the home was judged to be good. Three out of the four recommendations made at the last inspection have not been fully addressed, and an additional action has been raised at this inspection. However, these shortfalls have not impacted negatively on the good outcomes achieved by the young people in the home. The young people were either out the home or did not wish to talk with the inspector.

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Progress

The young people continue to progress and the focus is now on their preparation to leave later in the year, after several years living in the home. Their comprehensive and individualised care plans include clear aims and how they will be achieved. For example, young people are learning to travel on their own on public transport in readiness for their moves and are spending increased independent time in the community. Where necessary they are starting to familiarise with their home areas, including joining a gym there. Improvements have been made and records and plans are up to date and signed.

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Progress

Their health needs are well met, and plans include them taking personal responsibility for administration of their medication, with the support of nursing teams. This ensures staff are trained to support and monitor the young people’s self- administration. Continued promotion of healthy lifestyles means that young people are aware of the positive effects of eating a balanced diet and taking exercise. The young people have left school and are either attending and achieving in college, or looking to find work when they move on. They are maintaining contact with their families and staff maintain communication with parents in the interests of the young people. As part of everyday life young people give their views and opinions, and are increasingly talking with staff and their social workers about their futures and concerns.

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Progress

Young people are safeguarded and appropriate actions have been taken to ensure they are safe. Any allegations are followed up appropriately in consultation with the Local Authority Designated Officer. The home works with the local police to ensure young people are protected, on the rare occasions they go missing from care. Staff have not yet been trained to ensure they are all aware of the local authority policy in relations to children going missing. This was a recommendation of the last inspection and has been repeated. Behaviour management plans are comprehensive and demonstrate that they have been compiled with the young people, who add their comments about how they like to be treated. Sanctions are reasonable and rare, and there have been no incidents of physical intervention in the last three months. It is evident that young people are being supported to take responsibility for their behaviours.

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Progress

Since the last inspection the registered manager has left the home. A new manager has been in post for three weeks, and her application to be registered is almost completed and will be submitted to Ofsted shortly. The previous manager did not carry out the six monthly review, nor was the report submitted to Ofsted and an action has been made in this respect. In addition no progress has been made on the recommendation concerning staff appraisals, made at the last inspection.

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Progress

There have been considerable changes in the staff group in the last six months, and recruitment is taking place to fill the remaining two vacancies. This has resulted in the use of regular staff from other homes and agency staff, who are known to the young people. Permanent staff have taken on extra shifts to provide more consistency of care for the young people. As a result the quality of care has been maintained. A recommendation concerning continuity of staffing has been repeated from the last inspection.

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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) maintain a system for monitoring the matters set out in Schedule 6 at appropriate intervals; and supply to HMCI a report in respect of any review conducted. (The Children's Homes Regulations 2001 34(1)(a) and (2)) 28/02/2014

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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

 make every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children's attachments are not overly disrupted (NMS 17.8)  ensure that all staff have their performance individually and formally appraised at least annually (NMS 19.6)  ensure that staff working within the home know and implement the local authority policy in relation to children going missing. (NMS 5.2)

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection.

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