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

Unique reference number SC005050 Inspection date 20/03/2014 Inspector Rachel Ruth Britten Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 06/01/2014 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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

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

Improving outcomes for young people are clearly evidenced in the short period since the last full inspection in January 2014. Young people continue to lead active and healthy lifestyles and have made personal progress in a number of ways. Some have undergone necessary dental treatment after refusing this for years, while others are joining organised activities in the community for the first time. Young people are committing to daily education, are enjoying increasing family contact, and are better able to control outbursts of inappropriate, aggressive, or sexualised behaviour. Many young people have matured significantly in their understanding of their plans and are working hard on their behaviour and family relationships. One young person wrote, 'I'm responsible for my behaviour and I'm trying my best so I can get home and be with my family.'

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Progress

Young people's progress continues to be underpinned by very high quality care. Independent reviewing officers note the 'positive relationships' between staff and young people and link this to the fact that young people are 'extremely happy here'. One young person recently wrote: 'my carers show me respect by telling me what's going on; so I respect them; they are honest with me when they think I'm misbehaving so I'm honest with them.'

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Progress

Staff and managers have acted positively on the areas of recommendation and action made at the last inspection. They acknowledge that these were the reasons why their previously 'outstanding' Ofsted grade was reduced to 'good'. For example, the advice of the visiting therapist is now timely, regular, clearly documented and very available to staff to use in their direct care work. As a result, young people are making more significant progress and the quality of staff's work is enhanced. Similarly, a constantly high standard of decoration is being maintained in young people's rooms and any damage is quickly made good. As a result, young people are proud of their rooms and are able to relax and respect their personal space. Equally, staff are working more proactively and in more depth to help young people collect memorabilia of their time here. Young people have all got individual memory boxes as well as scrapbooks and albums and this is regularly added to. As a result, young

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Progress

people feel more valued for their individual story, background and contribution.

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Progress

The leadership and management of the home continues to be of very high calibre. The deputy manager is now undertaking the required qualification for children's home management. Visitors are now rigorously signed in, even when they are colleagues from within the organisation. Visitor badges are now used when visitors to the home are not well known to the young people. A particular strength is the continuous development of information sharing with local authority social workers and independent reviewing officers. The manager now sends a weekly report which seeks the views of those professionals about the quality of care and requests constructive feedback. This is eliciting universally positive feedback thus far which is shared with staff and contributes to their continuing high morale and cooperative team working.

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Progress

In addition to making well chosen, direct improvements to the quality of care, the manager has researched the recent regulatory and proposed Ofsted inspection framework changes. Prompted by this, he has produced a format for tracking and analysing the effectiveness of placement endings. The tool seeks information and prompts reflection after a young person has moved on. It aims to draw out lessons about what went well and less well during a young person's preparation for a move, and how successful the move proved to be for the young person's future outcomes. The manager is well placed to extend the home's expertise in this area as many young people already keep in touch with the home after they have left because they value the support and advice of staff and managers.

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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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