Children's Home run by North East Lincolnshire Council in North East Lincolnshire

Unique reference number SC441553 Inspection date 10/03/2014 Inspector Ann-Marie Born Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 23/10/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This is a local authority long-stay children's home registered to accommodate five young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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 good progress .

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Progress

This home was judged as good at the previous full inspection in October 2013. Following this interim inspection the home is judged to be making good progress and has successfully addressed the previous recommendation. This inspection identifies one recommendation relating to safeguarding processes.

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Progress

Young people feel a strong sense of identity and belonging in the home. As a result there has been an improvement in behaviours leading to a considerable reduction in the number of significant events since the last inspection. A young person said: 'things are much better here since you were last here. Staff are helping me look at why I gets angry and drink. This is my home.'

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Progress

Young people benefit from improved staff understanding and processes which ensure their views are accurately recorded in all matters. This has been further enhanced by the introduction of new 'monthly progress' books which have been designed together with young people. Young people actively participate in setting their own goals which are recorded by staff and then reviewed together. Consequently young people's confidence in their abilities to plan, to set achievable targets and to learn from setbacks are enhanced. A young person said: 'I really like the monthly reports. You get what you want if you ask for it properly and I like being part of everything to do with me. I think it really helps me to make my decisions'.

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Progress

The strong, consistent staff team know the young people in their care extremely well. Robust safeguarding procedures ensure that individual areas of risk are planned for thus protecting young people from engaging in unsafe behaviours. Young people report that they feel safe and secure in the home. A young person stated: ' I used to get in to trouble because I had no-one to talk to, not like these here. They always listen to me and I feel really safe with them. I’ve never felt as safe anywhere as I do here'. However, on occasion young people's absences from the home have been recorded as an 'unauthorised absence' rather than as a missing episode. Therefore the agreed missing person's protocols are not being fully implemented which could lead to young people are not being fully safeguarded.

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Progress

Young people's sense of self and feelings of self-worth are enriched as they engage with staff in the home and the care provided. As a result individual outcomes including attendance at school, a reduction in offending behaviours or the successful move to a foster placement, significantly improve. A young person said: 'I’m really happy here. Life is much better.'

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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 staff working within the home know and implement the local authority and home’s policy in relation to children going missing and their role in implementing the policy. (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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