Children's Home run by Sandcastle Care Limited in Blackpool

Unique reference number SC065313 Inspection date 25/03/2014 Inspector Sharon Lloyd Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 08/01/2014 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home is operated by a private organisation. It is registered to care for up to three young people of both genders with emotional and 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 satisfactory progress .

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Progress

The overall effectiveness of the home was judged to be adequate at the full inspection in January 2014. Since then the home has made satisfactory progress. It has addressed the requirement made at the last inspection and has fully met six of the eight recommendations made. The remaining two recommendations have been partially met. This has led to improvements in the quality of the service.

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Progress

The manager has recently been registered with Ofsted. The manager and those staff not yet qualified in the social care of children are engaged in Diploma level qualifications, appropriate to their roles. This ensures they have the opportunity to further develop their knowledge and skills. It supports the provision of good quality care to children and young people and shows the organisation's commitment to having a qualified, competent workforce.

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Progress

Since the last inspection all permanent and relief staff have participated in a programme of training to improve their competence. This includes training in the management of conflict and supporting positive behaviour which has led to more effective use of sanctions. Young people who present challenging behaviour benefit from positive measures of control and they are developing new skills from participating in tasks set as reparation for damage to the home. Sanctions imposed are fair, appropriate and restorative in nature. Staff use humour to develop a good rapport with young people and this promotes better engagement and less challenging behaviour.

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Progress

New arrangements are in place for the professional supervision of the manager. This ensures she has suitable guidance, support and advice from a qualified and experienced professional. As a newly registered manager she values this contribution to her professional development. She recognises this is helping her to further develop her own knowledge and skills and to make effective and sound decisions.

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Progress

One-to-one supervision of staff recently transferred to the home has not taken place nor has supervision of new agency staff. This undermines their ability to provide consistent care and to raise matters of concern with the manager. It means some new staff are not fully familiar with the home's routines and procedures, especially in relation to record keeping.

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Progress

The home provides a high level of supervision and support to young people. This helps young people to develop independence and self-care skills. Young people enjoy participating in shopping, cooking, repairs to the home and gardening, for example. With encouragement and supervision from staff the young people keep their bedrooms acceptably tidy and clean. This helps them to develop good habits and skills for future life.

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Progress

The home has been through a major refurbishment programme. It provides homely, well-appointed accommodation and facilities. The conservatory has been developed to provide an additional, comfortable room where young people can receive visitors and spend time relaxing, away from other young people.

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Progress

The office has been relocated from the top floor to a small room on the second storey. This means it is more central to the home. Staff using the office can easily hear what is going on in the home. Staff spend less time in the office. The changes promote improved levels of supervision. A new doorbell is about to be fitted to ensure that staff know when visitors arrive.

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Progress

A new young person has been admitted to the home in an emergency. Careful consideration was given to how the home would meet the young person's needs but there is no written record of this process. This shortfall has not impacted on the home's ability to meet the young person's needs.

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Progress

The home has developed a new referral form that prompts clear identification of young people's specific needs. However, it is not yet ready for use and it does not show how the skills of the staff team or the needs of young people already living at the home are considered in the matching process.

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Progress

In order to meet a young person's specific needs the organisation has made significant changes to the staff team. This included bringing experienced, competent staff from another of its homes to Rowling House. The changes are specified in the updated Statement of Purpose.

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Progress

Three regular agency staff support the new staff team, they have significant experience and qualifications in providing social care to adults, but not all are qualified or suitably experienced in working with children and young people. Records held in the home about agency staff do not include whether references have been obtained and followed up. This means the home cannot show how it has assured itself that agency staff are fully suitable to meet the needs of the young people and meet the Statement of Purpose.

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Progress

The quality of care and outcomes for young people have been maintained since the last inspection. Young people make satisfactory progress in their development. Significant incidents are dealt with appropriately and safely. The staff team use their skills and humour to diffuse challenging situations and avert escalating aggression. Young people who have presented extremely challenging behaviour in previous placements begin to reduce their high levels of offending behaviour. Staff are alert to their attempts to engage in drug misuse and intervene successfully to prevent this.

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Progress

Restraint is used appropriately to prevent harm to young people and others and detailed information about restraints is held on young people's individual files. The home's permanent log of restraints does not contain all the required information and is not sufficiently robust to provide a clear, permanent record of the event.

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Progress

The home works collaboratively with schools to promote re-engagement with education for young people who have been out of school for lengthy periods. Early signs are that newly placed young people respond to the high levels of encouragement and support they receive from both staff and school. Young people who are not in school participate in a range of activities with staff. This develops their life skills and they enjoy being busy.

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Progress

Staff build supportive relationships with young people so that over time, young people begin to develop self-esteem and improved social skills. The home ensures that young people have ample opportunity to enjoy a range of activities, games and exercise. This encourages young people to reduce their anti-social behaviour and participate in age-appropriate leisure pursuits.

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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

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, discipline or restraint a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose which shall include those matters listed.(Regulation 17B (3), (4)) 30/04/2014

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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

 maintain in the children's home a record of the recruitment and vetting checks which have been carried out on those working for the children's home, including all matters listed. In particular, ensure this information is available for agency and relief workers (NMS 16.3)  ensure that staff are equipped with the skills required to meet the needs of the children and purpose of the setting. In particular, ensure that agency staff are suitably qualified and experienced in children's social care (NMS 18.1)  ensure that all staff, including relief and agency staff are provided with regular supervision by appropriately qualified and experienced staff (NMS 19.4)  ensure that the home only provides admission to young people whose assessed needs they can reasonably expect to meet. In particular, ensure that records of decisions about admissions demonstrate robust matching of children's needs taking into account the skills of the staff team and the needs of children already

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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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