Children's Home run by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council in Dudley

Unique reference number SC038500 Inspection date 19/03/2014 Inspector Paula Lahey Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 13/11/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home is operated by the local authority. The home can accommodate up to four children and young people.

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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 last inspection in November 2013, the home was judged to provide young people with an outstanding service. Since this time the home has maintained the quality of care and although the three recommendations are not fully embedded, some action has been taken and a suitable plan for completion is in place.

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Progress

Children continue to benefit from living in this home and are each making progress towards their individual placement and permanency aims. The staff team provide nurturing, warm and stable attachments for children. As such, positive relationships are fostered whereby children feel secure and cared for. Children said that the best things about staff were: ‘they play games with me’ and ‘they listen to me and help me to sort things out’.

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Progress

The staff team actively support children’s educational attainment by positive enthusiasm for learning. This includes liaison with schools as well as regular opportunities for shared reading, homework and celebrating educational achievements. Children are all regularly attending school and say that they are enjoying it. Children particularly like the ‘school reward’ they can receive every Friday on demonstrating continued enthusiasm and progress at school.

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Progress

Children are supported to try new activities and develop personal hobbies and interests. Each child is actively engaged in purposeful activities that are developing their confidence, skills and abilities. Children regularly attend sports clubs, youth groups and after school activities. One child is an active member of the local council's child in care committee. Children regularly enjoy exciting and fun holidays both in the local area and across the country. Children spoke positively about these experiences, and it is evident that they have some positive memories of these times.

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Progress

Positive behaviour is promoted. Approaches are individualised and based on the level of understanding and need of each child. Children have a good understanding of the routines and expectations in the home and particularly like choosing from the ‘reward box’ when they have achieved these.

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Progress

Appropriate to their age and understanding children are involved in understanding the reasons for the placement and deciding on what is going to happen next. Children are supported to see their family and people who are important to them regularly, and in line with their individual plans. The staff team help children to collect and preserve a range of items documenting their time in the home. Children have personalised memory boxes which they can take with them to the next stage of their lives.

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Progress

There are some minor shortfalls in the records maintained by the home. The Statement of Purpose clarifies the main aims and objectives of the home and following the last inspection some amendments have been made. However, it does not yet comprehensively document all the elements as listed in Schedule 1 of the Children’s Home Regulations. This makes it harder for stakeholders to fully understand all of the home’s provisions and approaches.

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Progress

The homes management team monitor the records maintained in the home on a monthly basis. This tends to be an audit rather than an analysis of trends and patterns. This limits the homes ability to robustly self-evaluate and assess the quality of the service, in order to identify strengths and areas for improvement. Some work has started on developing a more focused improvement plan. Ofsted are yet to be provided with a copy of the homes most recent self-evaluation summary, as required by Regulation.

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Progress

A number of Regulation 33 visits occur during the school day. This means that not all children are provided with regular opportunities to feedback their views on living in the home to an independent person. In addition, the visitor does not yet seek the views of other stakeholders, such as those with parental responsibility. This limits the opportunity for the service to fully reflect on and learn from the views of others.

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Progress

Improvements have started to be made to the children’s welcome guide. Children have enjoyed helping staff to come up with ideas to make the revised version more child friendly and age appropriate. The home is well resourced and provides children with a range of spaces in which to play and develop. The children say they are happy with their bedrooms and are able to personalise areas with favoured toys, pictures, and comforters. Fixtures and fittings are generally of a good quality and the home is well maintained and warm. However, the use of ‘office style’ blinds in children’s bedrooms, and the use of some colours can make the environment appear rather institutional and detracts from the homely and nurturing approach the team provide in practice.

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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) compile in relation to the children's home a written statement (referred to as "the statement of purpose") which shall consist of a statement as to the matters listed in Schedule 1 (Regulation 4(1)) 18/04/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the Regulation 33 visitor shall (a) interview with their consent and in private, the children accommodated there, their parents, relatives and other persons working at the home in order to form an opinion of the standard of care provided (Regulation 33 (4)(a)) 01/05/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the registered person shall maintain a system for robustly monitoring the matters in Schedule 6 at least every 3 months and supply a copy of the report to HMCI. In addition, ensure that there is effective analysis of trends and patterns in order to evaluate the quality of service provided and identify any areas for development. (Regulation 34 (1)(a-b)(2)) 18/04/2014

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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 that the home provides a comfortable and homely environment. In particular, ensure the window coverings and decoration, particularly in children's bedrooms, does not lead to an institutional feel. (NMS 10.3)

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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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