Children's Home run by Coventry City Council in Coventry

Unique reference number SC414347 Inspection date 15/01/2014 Inspector Julian Mason Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 26/03/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home provides up to short-term 12-week placements for up to five children or young people. The service is operated by the local authority.

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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 mostly provides emergency short-term care focusing on the assessment of young people’s needs in preparation for moving on to somewhere more permanent. Young people understand the purpose of the home and the role staff play in helping placing social workers identify a suitable placement for them. Although placements are short in duration, staff consistently achieve a good standard of care because they quickly get to know each young person well. This results in young people having an equal stake and involvement in life at the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from detailed, individualised care planning and practices that result in their needs being clearly identified and consistently met. From the point at which young people enter the home, they are encouraged to make positive progress across all areas of their welfare and development. Young people have good relationships with staff; they feel able to regularly contribute their views and wishes about their plans for the future. Young people are listened to and this helps the staff team organise their daily care and support routines around young people’s individual needs. Young people feel protected and staff regularly discuss important matters that help promote everyone’s safety. Young people benefit from being looked after by an experienced and skilled team of staff who help to lessen the impact of changing placements by providing sensitive and supportive care. Parents, and professionals who work directly with staff and young people, are every positive about

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Overall effectiveness

how care is provided and what is achieved for each individual.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are good . Young people receive supportive and helpful care at a time when they are experiencing significant change in their lives. Their individual circumstances and needs are quickly embraced by the staff team, which includes helping young people focus on the very specific purpose of their placement in the home. Young people who are also new into care, experience a reassuring and supportive environment that enables them to quickly engage in planning for their futures. The short-term nature of young people’s placements means that staff have to build effective relationships quickly and in most cases, staff do this successfully. Where young people have emotional and behavioural difficulties, they experience patient and sensitive care. One young person stated, ‘the staff are really good, I know they do their best to help me even when things are not going well.’

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Outcomes for children and young people

In the short time that young people are in the home they are enabled and supported to build their emotional resilience, confidence and self-esteem. Young people are encouraged to talk about their life experiences and backgrounds to help them understand their current circumstances. Young people’s physical, emotional and social development needs are promoted well. They are educated and encouraged to have healthy diets and lead healthy lifestyles and if they feel unwell receive timely and responsive help. Young people’s health is closely monitored and they access a variety of health services and professionals to ensure their good health and well- being continues.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s current and potential education, learning or training needs are fully considered as part of the home’s on-going assessment process. Young people experience good support and consistent encouragement to help them maintain existing school or college placements. Some young people continue to make good progress while others struggle to adapt or maintain their attendance’ usually because of existing patterns of non-attendance and behavioural difficulties. Young people’s learning needs are matched to very practical day-to-day strategies which promote improvements their attainment and attendance. Although most young people are not at the home for long, progress is made either by supporting existing arrangements or contributing to assessments that are used to plan and shape future provision.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from effective partnerships with families and significant others to ensure important and close relationships are maintained and supported. Staff pay particular attention to planning and organising positive family contact and they listen to young people and family members in order to ensure those arrangements are appropriate and safe. Family members are welcomed into the home and experience a positive an encouraging atmosphere in support of the visits. Where family contact may sometimes be challenging or difficult. staff are patient and understanding and they provide sensitive emotional support.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from opportunities to develop age appropriate life skills and knowledge. This supports their personal development and safely encourages independence and responsibility. Such skills include self-care, preparing meals and behaving responsibly. Practical help, tailored to individual needs and circumstances, promotes personal knowledge and awareness which effectively contributes to a young person’s development.

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Quality of care

Young people experience positive and constructive relationships with staff. An environment is provided where stable and successful placements are expected for all young people, irrespective of their circumstances or length of stay. Young people experience a positive and inclusive approach to care and support that helps to engage them in planning for their futures. Staff place the well-being and care of each young person at the centre of their daily practice. They demonstrate this clearly through the time they spend with each young person and the individual attention given to help young people learn about their lives and experiences. Staff use their developing relationships with young people to positively influence attitudes. Some young people recognise how beneficial this has been in helping them move forward in their lives.

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Quality of care

Young people are regularly consulted about their care, daily routines and how the home is managed. The staff team know how young people are feeling because of the frequent but informal discussions that take place daily. This helps staff adapt and respond quickly to young people’s presenting needs and demonstrates the team’s flexibility to changing circumstances and priorities. This is in addition to more formal link worker sessions and young people’s meetings where staff and young people share their views and information. Young people are very confident about the home’s ability to deal with any complaints that they may have. The home achieves agreeable outcomes and resolutions to any concerns raised. Young people are very clear about who they can go to outside of the home if they are not happy about something. This is because these arrangements are promoted by staff as a way of ensuring young people know about their rights.

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Quality of care

Young people are consistently and frequently involved in the planning and review of their care. Written information is comprehensive, reflecting the diversity and background of each young person. Plans positively address daily living arrangements and the aims of each placement. Known and potential risks are regularly assessed and reflected in the written information that staff use to guide the way they work each day. This enables staff to adapt and change their practice quickly so any risks can be managed effectively. The home is good at tailoring and planning daily routines to ensure individual needs are met and risks are managed safely.

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Quality of care

Young people are provided with a healthy environment where they are able to access the services and support they require to meet their physical, emotional and psychological needs. Staff are knowledgeable and aware of individual needs and listen to what young people have to say about their own health and well-being. Staff have effective partnerships with community services and can call on professional help quickly if needed. Young people are also able to access community services independently if they want to because staff help them to learn how to do this. Young people benefit from living in a well-furnished and comfortable home that is kept safe and well maintained. Young people are able to personalise their bedrooms and can arrange their own space to suit their individual choices and tastes. The home’s communal areas are decorated to a good standard and provide enough space for young people to spend time together or on their own.

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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 feel safe in the home and with the staff who look after them. Staff use established procedures and practices to help protect young people and promote their welfare. Detailed assessments are in place, which identify areas of individual risk and vulnerability. Staff use this information to shape their daily work with each young person. Child protection training ensures that staff know how to respond to allegations or suspicions of abuse or report concerns about an individual’s safety.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Managers and staff have well-established links with designated professionals and agencies that work to support safeguarding arrangements for vulnerable young people. This includes effective working partnerships when young people are missing from the home. The Registered Manager ensures local protocols are followed, which includes meetings of professionals where strategies are agreed to help reduce the risks faced by young people when they are missing from care. The Registered Manager and staff team are continually exploring ways of helping young people reduce patterns of behaviour which places them at risk. Because of this approach, most young people’s whereabouts are known and patterns of absconding behaviour are greatly reduced. Where concerns continue, young people’s placements are reviewed as part of the home’s on-going assessment process to help determine the most suitable future placement arrangements.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are encouraged and supported to behave well and say staff are fair when it comes to helping them manage their relationships and social interactions. Although formal sanctions are sometimes used to address poor behaviour, the staff team tend to focus on the use of praise and rewards to encourage patterns of good or improving behaviour. As staff get to know young people, they are able to develop individualised approaches that help them focus on more risky behaviours that need to change. The use of physical intervention is sometimes necessary but staff use their training and experience to minimise the need for this method of control. The Registered Manager closely monitors staff practice to ensure the appropriate use of all agreed behaviour management strategies.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people’s home environment is safe. Risk assessments are in place and reviewed regularly to ensure everyone is informed about the necessary measures needed to manage any health and safety concerns that are identified. Routine checks are undertaken on all fire safety equipment and everyone knows what to do if they need to evacuate the building as this is practised regularly. Young people's protection is further supported by safe recruitment, selection and vetting practices for all new staff. The home has a clearly defined system in place that ensures all necessary checks have been completed satisfactorily prior to any staff member starting work in the home.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are outstanding .

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from living in a well-managed home that is effectively and efficiently organised to achieve the best possible outcomes for each young person. Managers and staff are clear about the aims and objectives of the service, which is communicated effectively to placing social workers, young people and their families. This process is supported by an informative Statement of Purpose and young person's guide. Every effort is made to ensure all young people have a full understanding of how the home operates and what they can and should expect from managers and staff. This approach helps young people know how they will be supported and looked after.

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Leadership and management

The qualified staff team are very well informed about each young person and clearly understand their roles and responsibilities. Staff know who they are accountable to and what tasks and responsibilities are delegated to them. They feel well supported by the Registered Manager and the home's deputy. There are effective support structures in place, including regular supervision that ensures continuing staff development and good quality practice. Day-to-day support is excellent as managers and seniors are always around to help and guide the team. Staff appraisals are completed and are part of the home’s wider cycle of evaluating the home’s performance and effectiveness. One member of staff stated, ‘it’s a great team who work with each other really well’.

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Leadership and management

The staff team have access to a wide range of training and development opportunities and are very positive about what is available to them. Staff training is closely monitored to ensure all mandatory training and refresher training is completed within defined timescales. In addition, the staff team have access to a range of more specialist training that relates directly to young people’s needs and circumstances.

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Leadership and management

The home's monitoring systems are robust. This includes a range of management activities that draw together information about how well the home is operating in terms of meeting young people’s needs. Social workers, young people, parents and staff are encouraged to express their views about the quality of care provided. For example, young people are asked to feed back their views and opinions about the staff team. Visiting professionals are asked about what they think of the service and how it might be improved. Staff are continually encouraged to reflect on their practices and discuss their effectiveness, as individuals and as a group, during team and management meetings. This practice is embedded into the routines of the home in support of problem-solving and finding alternative strategies to support each young person’s progress and achievements.

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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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