Children's Home run by N H Care Limited in Birmingham

Unique reference number SC467264 Inspection date 19/02/2014 Inspector Andrew Hewston Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 20/12/2013 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 privately owned children’s home can accommodate up to four young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties

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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 adequate .

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Overall effectiveness

This was an unannounced, full inspection of the home. The last inspection which in December 2013 judged the home as inadequate. Two compliance notices were issued following the December inspection. All of the requirements and notices have been met.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are cared for by an enthusiastic staff team that are highly aware of their differing individualised needs. Young people enjoy being at the home and can describe differences and improvements from when they were first admitted to the present day. Significant improvements include areas such as school attendance and reductions in the need for behaviour management. Young people enjoy being with staff, with positive relationships being formed allowing excellent interactions, with young people sharing their hopes and fears for the future with them. Young people are fully involved in the decisions that affect them on a day-to-day basis, helping them to develop understanding and responsibility for their actions. Staff practice, in partnership with social workers and other involved agencies, delivers meaningful support that promotes independence and encourages the self-regulation of behaviour by young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are generally safe within the home. Areas that have been raised as regulatory improvements or recommendations primarily relate to systems of recording and these not being fully completed in line with expectations. They do not have a defined impact on the safety or well-being of young people. These include additional information being necessary for; independence planning, health appointments, education, recruitment checks and training.

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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 if any of the events listed in column 1 of the table in Schedule 5 takes place, the registered person shall without delay notify the persons indicated in respect of the event in column 2 of the table (Regulation 30.1) 16/04/2014

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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 young people develop independence skills to prepare them into adulthood (NMS 12.1)  ensure staff understand what is in the placement plan and have clarity about decisions they can make about the day to day arrangements for the young person (NMS 7.3)  ensure young people’s health is promoted in accordance with their placement plan (NMS 6.5)  ensure staff have up-to-date information about each child’s educational progress and school attendance record (NMS 8.7)  ensure the D.B.S. record must show the date on which each check was completed and who carried out the check (NMS 16.4)  ensure the manager regularly monitors, in line with regulations, all records kept by the home to ensure compliance with the home’s policies, to identify any concerns about specific incidents and to identify patterns and trends (NMS 21.2)  ensure staff are equipped with the skills required to meet the needs of the children and purpose of the setting, and training keeps them up-to-date with

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Recommendations

professional, legal and practice developments and reflects the policies, legal obligations and business needs of the home (NMS 18.1)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are good . Young people develop positive relationships with the staff team throughout their time at the home. They are able to discuss key individuals that they are supported by. These positive attachments to young people help to provide a supportive environment and go towards their understanding of their backgrounds and also what they could achieve in the future.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are aware of the need to keep fit and the staff team consistently promotes a healthy lifestyle. Health appointments are attended in the majority of cases and young people are prompted to attend specialist health services that meet their needs.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have significantly increased their attendance at educational placements and these are fully supported by the staff team. Responses to these have been positive from the placements and are also complimentary with regard to the staff involved.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have developed in their involvement with the home, with increased levels of discussion within young people's meetings and also key worker sessions. This has increased young people's understanding of their responsibilities within a communal living environments and also respecting the staff team. A recent incident with a young person helping to find the owner of a lost dog shows an increased ability of young people to be involved with their local community. Young people are also more involved with developing menus and also cooking for themselves and others in the home.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy contact with their families. The staff also support young people in having regular and positive visits from friends. The wishes of young people with regard to contact is supported by staff and has previously led to social workers responding to the expectations of the young people. This ensures that placing authorities are recognising the strength of the young people's wishes.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are starting to learn independence skills within the home. Planning for this development is at a basic level although procedures are in place to revise this to allow more successful transitions into adult life outside the home.

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Quality of care

Young people state that they enjoy being at the home. Young people say that the staff are caring and worry about their welfare and that this has helped them improve their attitude, behaviour and help them to attend school. Young people state that since the last inspection the home has become 'more relaxed and friendly' allowing improvements in relationships. Staff present as good role models for the young people. They can choose which staff are their key workers and how they help to support them in making the right decisions. Young people state that if they are unhappy they can talk to staff and they will try to do things about it. The home has an appropriate complaints procedure and complaints raised are fully investigated, with the management team responding directly to the young people with the outcomes.

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Quality of care

Regular young people's meetings take place and show that agenda items are discussed that have an impact on their lives. Discussions with young people take place on a daily basis relating to their development at the home. Meal times are positive social situations where achievements and plans are gone through in a relaxed atmosphere to ensure that their views and situations are supported. They help with the development of menus and cooking of meals to increase their independence skills. Key worker meetings supplement young people's meetings, allowing them to discuss issues on a more informal basis. Records show that young people are consistently listened to and their ambitions for the future are supported.

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Quality of care

All young people have placement plans in place. These link well with the Looked After Children documentation from the placing authority. Although the plans include a wide range of information, they are not sufficiently well detailed for staff to be able to see how care is to be provided on a day to day basis. Young people are aware that there is a plan relating to their care although they state that they do not know everything that is in it. Plans include information relating to cultural needs and how these are to be met. The home is pro-active in responding to the differing needs of the young people and the staff team includes staff from a range of backgrounds and cultures.

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Quality of care

Young people's health is supported by effective links to a range of health professionals including dentists, opticians and children and adolescent mental health services although information relating to the latter service is poor within planning. Young people are supported in attending health appointments and the staff team promotes the support offered by local drug awareness organisations. Permissions are in place for medication administration and first aid to support the health of young people at all times.

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Quality of care

Educational placements for young people are in place and have significantly improved since the last inspection. Records of education arrangements within the young people's file have not been updated to show the current level of attendance and support necessary however. Additional educational support is being offered by the staff team and youth offending team.

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Quality of care

Young people are offered a range of activities by the staff team. They are able to discuss go-karting and cinema trips that have been enjoyable and also formed part of the behaviour management programme in place. Activity plans are completed regularly to promote improvements in the arrangements for young people outside of school.

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Quality of care

The home is very well presented, with high quality furnishing and décor and well- appointed rooms. This offers the opportunity for communal meals and interactions as well as space to be alone if young people so choose. Young people say that the home is warm and welcoming. The fabric of the building is maintained well and the environment contributes to making young people valued. The location of the home means that young people have good access to a range of services and community facilities.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is adequate at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people state that they feel safe in the home and that the staff team look after them well. Information is available around the home and within the young people's guide to inform them of what they can do to get additional support if they do not feel that they are being looked after properly. Social Workers also state that the young people feel safer at the home since the last inspection.

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Safeguarding children and young people

An appropriate safeguarding policy is in place to support the young people. The majority of staff have completed training in safeguarding, with additional training planned for the near future to ensure that all staff are fully aware of their responsibilities to keep young people safe. No full safeguarding referrals have been made since the last inspection. Young people have, however, put themselves into risky situations due to being absent without permission from the home. Appropriate strategy meetings have been held due to such behaviour and information relating to the absence is fully completed. Young people have also been involved with criminal behaviours including theft at a local shop resulting in Police involvement. No notification has been received relating to this behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Recruitment checks are completed on all staff, with additional information requested should any concerns arise as part of these. Records relating to DBS checks are not fully completed, to show the date and person completing the check. The lack of this information could raise concerns relating to the wellbeing of the young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff attempt to promote positive behaviours through the use of activities and encouragement of working in line with the rules of the home. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of sanctions and restraints at the home since the last inspection. Records relating to additional measures of control are fully completed and checked by the manager.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Health and safety checks, including fire checks are completed on a regular basis and help to support the safety of both young people and staff.

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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

The home has had a significant change in the management team of the home since the last inspection. A new manager has applied for registration. The new staff team have worked hard to develop the home and major improvements have helped to develop the service provided. The change in management and staff has led to a greater consistency of care within the home. The close working relationships and good communication within the team contributes significantly to the effectiveness of the home’s daily routines. This consistency provides young people with safe routines in a nurturing environment that promotes placement stability. All previous requirements have been responded to and the notices have been met.

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Leadership and management

The home has an appropriate Statement of Purpose that has been updated since the last inspection to include changes in staffing. This gives commissioners a good awareness of the work completed at the home. The young people's guide gives information relating to the basic rules and expectations of behaviour while they are at the home.

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Leadership and management

Monitoring of the home is undertaken by the manager. A new check sheet is in place to ensure all areas are examined, although records of these checks are basic and do not give a sufficiently thorough awareness of the running of the home. A development plan has been improved since the last inspection and now includes clear objectives for the staff team to work on to move forward the service delivered to the young people. Monitoring is completed by the operations manager on a monthly basis and reports are forwarded to Ofsted.

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Leadership and management

The home is sufficiently staffed. New staff have started at the home since the last inspection who state that they have received an induction to the home and are aware of the policies and procedures. All staff that are not NVQ 3 qualified are enrolled on the course to develop their practice. Staff state that they are well supported by the manager and supervision records show that all have had formal meetings regarding their ability to provide a good service to the young people. Training continues to be rolled out in a range of areas including safeguarding, child sexual exploitation, food safety and first aid.

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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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