Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Unique reference number SC033628 Inspection date 26/03/2014 Inspector Paul Scott 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 local authority setting provides six overnight places for short breaks care and also day and tea-time sessions. All the children have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

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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 interim inspection has focused on the progress the home has made since the last full inspection in October 2013, at which the judgement for overall effectiveness was outstanding. The service continues to provide excellent short-term respite care for young people with disabilities.

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Progress

No shortfalls were identified at this visit and good progress has been made in addressing the three recommendations from the previous inspection. The children's guide has been updated and now contains all relevant information, staff have completed physical restraint training and systems for monitoring records have been strengthened. These actions have improved the quality of care provided by the home.

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Progress

Young people continue to benefit from being cared for by a competent, committed and stable staff team. Visits are well planned and staff work closely with parents and carers. This ensures the information they have about each young person is accurate and up-to-date at the time of their visit. A great deal of emphasis is placed on matching young people to ensure the time they spend with each other is positive. As a result, a number of young people have formed good friendships with each other.

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Progress

Staff work hard to ensure young people's visits to the home are safe, purposeful, stimulating and fun. Individual goals are now identified for each young person and are the focus of their visit. Staff creatively use recreational pastimes as opportunities to address these goals, as well as developing their individual talents and skills. This has helped young people to grow in confidence, become increasingly independent and more socially adept.

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Progress

Young people enjoy strong and trusting relationships with staff. Staff are very good at managing the complex behaviour that arises as a result of young people's disabilities. They encourage and support young people to manage their frustrations and anxieties. Consequently, young people's behaviour is improving and the need for physical restraint is extremely infrequent, despite the volatility of some young people.

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Progress

Young people continue to be at the centre of all aspects of service delivery. Staff know the young people well and effectively use a range of non-verbal tools to overcome barriers to communication. This enables young people to express their opinions about the day-to-day operation of the home and what they would like to see changed. Staff clearly listen and respond to what young people say and a number of changes have been made as a result of what young people have said. For example, new activities have been introduced and changes have been made to some aspects of the environment, including softer mattresses for some young people.

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Progress

Leadership and management continues be effective. The manager provides a strong emphasis on providing high quality support for young people and their families. Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities and are well supported to develop their knowledge and skills through supervision, support and training. Weekly team meetings are effectively used to enable staff to reflect on young people's care, develop practice and promote positive outcomes for young people. This ensures the home continues to improve the services and support provided to young people.

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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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