Children's Home run by Channels and Choices Kent LLP in Kent

Unique reference number SC385631 Inspector Anna Williams Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Channels and Choices Kent LLP Registered person address 10 Clanwilliam Road Deal Kent CT14 7BX

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Responsible individual Martin Anthony Scholfield Registered manager Kate Readings Date of last inspection 11/03/2014 2 of 11 Inspection date 23/07/2014

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Previous inspection good progress Enforcement action since last inspection There has been no enforcement action since the last inspection.

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Overall effectiveness good

Outcomes for children and young people outstanding Quality of care outstanding Keeping children and young people safe good Leadership and management good

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Overall effectiveness

This children's home provides young people with an overall good standard of care. Young people are positive about the care they receive and their relationships with staff. One young person comments 'I'm happy here'. Young people achieve outstanding outcomes across all areas of their lives. Staff input is highly individualised and effective at supporting young people to achieve positive change. Feedback from placing social workers and other external agencies is extremely complimentary about the care.

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Overall effectiveness

Areas for development for the home include the current Statement of Purpose lacking in detail about the emergency admission procedure. This means placing social workers and parents cannot evaluate if the process has been suitably followed. There has been police involvement within the home since the last inspection. However, there are no procedures and guidance in place relating to police involvement in the home which have been agreed with local police. Recruitment procedures meet regulations. However, the process of verification of written references by telephone does not demonstrate action taken where inconsistencies in candidate information exists. Young people are suitably involved in the recruitment process of new staff. However, young people's views on this are not recorded within candidates files. 3 of 11 There is a Registered Manager in post. She has a good understanding of the strengths and development areas of the home, and has team plans in place. Since

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Overall effectiveness

the last full inspection, the leadership and management of the home has shown sustained improvement. This benefits the young people through well-supported and well-trained staff. 4 of 11

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for no more than four young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is run by a partnership company.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2014 Interim good progress 18/12/2013 Full adequate 19/03/2013 Interim satisfactory progress 11/07/2012 Full good

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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

4 (2001) compile in relation to the children's home a written statement (in these Regulations referred to as the "statement of purpose") which shall consist of a statement as to the matters listed in Schedule 1, in particular (Schedule 1: 11) relating to emergency admissions to the children's home. (Regulation 4 (1)) 15/09/2014

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take 5 of 11 account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure the home's approach to care minimises the need for police involvemen deal with challenging behaviour and avoids criminalising children unnecessaril The home follows procedures and guidance on police involvement in the hom which have been agreed with local police (NMS 3.22)  ensure the telephone verification of written references explores any inconsistencies in information shared, and these conversations are recorded (NMS 16.1)  ensure where children are suitably involved in the recruitment of new staff, th views and comments are clearly recorded within candidate’s files to inform the wider recruitment decision. (NMS 16.8) 6 of 11

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Outcomes for children and young people outstanding

Young people are positive about living in this children’s home. Comments from social workers include 'the home have provided a stable and secure base for [child] and [child] has flourished', and '[the child] has made significant and sustained progress'.

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Outcomes for children and young people outstanding

Young people follow healthy lifestyles. They do not smoke, nor engage in any form of substance misuse. Young people all engage in regular exercise and eat healthily balanced meals. Some young people engage with one-to-one therapy provided by the organisation. Some young people also engage with therapeutic interventions with family members. This focused work benefits the young person and wider familial relationships. Some young people engage in single-gender therapy groups. This offers young people further opportunity to reflect, discuss and take part in therapeutic interventions. Young people comment that they find all the therapy sessions of benefit, and that the groups provide opportunities to reflect and think.

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Outcomes for children and young people outstanding

Young people achieve exceptional educational achievements when considering their individual educational starting points. All young people have full-time school timetables and consistently maintain full attendance.

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Outcomes for children and young people outstanding

Young people engage in an extremely wide variety of activities and clubs. Some young people engage in community-based groups such as ‘street dance’, sea cadets, bowling, and football. These provide excellent opportunities for young people to make friends, achieve awards, and learn a variety of new skills. This supports young people's social interaction and personal development. Young people explore the local area by frequently visiting local attractions and places. These include the beach, shopping areas, local fairs and seasonal trips, such as fruit picking. This means young people are positively engaging with their nearby community. Comments from social workers include 'the activities [the child] is involved in through the home are really positive for [the child]. [The child's] confidence and self-esteem has grown'.

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Outcomes for children and young people outstanding

Young people maintain attachments to their family and those important to them. Family and sibling visits are extremely well planned. This ensures that young people and those important to them enjoy positive planned time together.

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Outcomes for children and young people outstanding

Young people engage well with individualised independence targets. These targets are unique and tailored appropriately to the young person’s age and understanding. Young people all take part in daily household activities and tasks. These include shopping, cooking and kitchen tasks. This supports the smooth running of the home and as a result, young people successfully learn useful life skills. 7 of 11

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Quality of care outstanding

Relationships between young people and staff are warm and nurturing. Young people take part in daily meetings. These offer all the young people opportunity to plan their activities, discuss menus and share their views about living together. Young people feel listened to by staff and know how to complain. Feedback from placing social workers and external professionals is exceedingly positive about the quality of care provided by the home. Comments from placing social workers include ‘the care this home provides is exceptional’, 'I think this is a brilliant organisation', and 'communication between us is excellent'.

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Quality of care outstanding

Key working within the home is a strength. Regular one to one sessions take place. These cover a variety of topics and are individualised to the unique circumstances of each young person, including significant life events such as bereavement. These meetings allow young people regular opportunity to discuss their feelings, ask questions and work together with their key worker on individual goals and targets. Comments from young people include ‘I have a really good relationship with my keyworker. My key worker helps me and I feel I can really talk to them and they listen', and 'staff do lots for me, like give me help when I'm angry, upset, depressed or lonely'.

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Quality of care outstanding

Staff work effectively with both the organisation’s school which some young people attend, and other educational establishments. Staff consistently attend relevant school meetings about progress. They celebrate young people’s achievements by attending school events and awards assemblies. Staff sensitively work with both the young people and education staff during times of transition. This lessens anxieties for the young people, and suitably involves them in the process of change. Staff recognise talents within young people and support them to develop and grow through the excellent range of activities and clubs on offer. These include after- school clubs, uniformed organisations and sports. This provides young people with regular, enjoyable and purposeful activities and events.

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Quality of care outstanding

Staff provide young people with outstanding support to maintain good physical and emotional health. Arrangements for the administration and management of medications is safe and effective. Staff meet regularly with the therapy team to discuss individual young people’s progress. During these meetings, the staff reflect on current circumstances and incidents and plan strategies to support the young people. Staff actively and successfully support young people to learn about the dangers of smoking and drug use.

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Quality of care outstanding

‘Respect’ and ‘thinking of others’ are strong themes of the home. Initiatives such as the ‘caring caterpillar’ encourages young people to undertake acts of kindness, which young people engage in. These acts are recorded within the ‘caring caterpillar’ poster on the hallway wall. Young people have been actively and successfully involved in raising money for charitable organisations. Some young people have taken part in the ‘race for life’ event. This demonstrates an awareness of good causes and 8 of 11 considering others, and also benefits young people's health.

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Quality of care outstanding

Placement plans are highly individualised and regularly updated. The home celebrates diversity openly and creatively through recognising world events like the world cup football tournament. Interesting facts and foods from countries participating in the event were researched and tried. This successfully engages the young people in learning about different places and provides the young people with a good awareness of world events.

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Quality of care outstanding

The home is maintained to an excellent standard. The home is physically safe due to regular, well-documented health and safety checks of the site, equipment and appliances. Since the last inspection, the outdoor games room has been completed. This includes a mini stage, television and karaoke machine for young people to use. This provides young people with additional activities and further communal space. The gardens and outdoor space is well maintained, including a ‘fairy garden’ created by young people. Bedrooms are all extremely personalised and individual to each young person. Bathrooms have been updated and are bright and hygienic. Photos of young people taking part in activities are on display around the home. Celebrations of young people's achievements are openly displayed.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Young people feel safe in the home and do not identify bullying as an issue. There have been no young people reported missing since the last inspection. Staff spoken to demonstrate good knowledge of safeguarding procedures. Significant events relating to the safety and welfare of young people placed in the home are notified appropriately to relevant agencies and suitable action is taken. This protects young people.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Basic recruitment practice is sound and meets regulatory requirements. However, the verification of written references by telephone does not fully explore where there are inconsistencies in employment dates and no notes are kept to refer to inform the recruitment decision. Children are involved in the recruitment process. However, individual candidate’s files do not contain a summary of feedback from children to inform the wider recruitment decision.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Since the last inspection, there has been police involvement in the home. This relates to staff being injured by young people during significant incidents and subsequently involving the police. The home has internal procedures which inform staff that the police should only be called following consultation with the on-call manager or directors. This has not been an effective policy to avoid police involvement, as it has not been consistently followed. Furthermore, there is no policy in place which has been formally agreed with the local police force regarding working together in relation to behaviour management. This risks the unnecessary criminalisation of young people. 9 of 11 There have been 82 sanctions applied since the last inspection. Records sampled show these are fair and proportionate. Young people add their views and comments to sanctions records. The Registered Manager monitors carefully all the behaviour

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Keeping children and young people safe good

management records for patterns and trends. There has been an increase in restraints within the home for some young people. Identified reasons for the increase are captured clearly within records and appropriate action taken to reduce them. Young people’s and staff de-briefs are individualised and reflective. This demonstrates an effective and personalised approach to the evaluation and monitoring of measures of control.

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Leadership and management good

The Registered Manager has over 6 years experience of working with young people within residential care settings. She started work in this children's home in October 2013 and was formally registered as manager with Ofsted in 2014. The Registered Manager holds a NVQ level 3 in 'caring for young people'. She is currently completing the level 5 Diploma in 'leadership for health and social care and children and young people's services' through a local college. She acknowledges that successful completion of this course is a requirement of the job role. Through this course she is extending her current knowledge base and developing her leadership skills.

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Leadership and management good

The Statement of Purpose describes the aims and objectives of the children’s home in good detail, with the exception of how emergency admissions are managed. The home has a more detailed separate policy and procedure relating to emergency placements. However, because this separate policy is not reflected in the Statement of Purpose, this key document does not inform placing social workers nor parents adequately how emergency admissions will be safely managed.

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Leadership and management good

40% of the staff team currently hold a qualification in childcare. 40% of the staff team are actively working towards completion of the level 3 diploma in childcare. 20% of the staff team are on probation and completing mandatory training course as part of their induction into the home. Since the last inspection, staff have completed training courses in safe caring topics such as first aid, E-safety and child sexual exploitation. This good programme of training courses ensures that staff have the skills required to meet the needs of young people placed in the home.

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Leadership and management good

Staff receive regular supervision which is reflective, child-focused, challenging of staff practice and clearly documented. Appraisals take place annually. They include direct feedback from young people on staff practice. This demonstrates to young people that their views and feedback is important. As a result of this strong performance management system, staff feel well-supported by the Registered Manager.

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Leadership and management good

External monitoring visits take place on a monthly basis. These visits fully involve young people and staff. The visitor also initiates regular contact with placing social 10 of 11 workers and family members for additional feedback. Actions identified by the external visitor are promptly addressed. Internal quality assurance reports are comprehensive documents which meet regulatory requirements. They demonstrate effective monitoring of the home. As a consequence, the Registered Manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and development areas.

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Leadership and management good

There were no requirements or recommendations set at the last inspection. The home has a team development plan in place. Progress towards the aims and objectives is good. Achievements over the last 6 months include the creation of the diversity map and wall display within the home. This successfully promotes thinking and discussion around other cultures. Organisational 'community meetings' are now taking place. These meetings have further improved communication links between the provider school, the therapy team and residential care staff. Overall, the Registered Manager has been successful at maintaining an outstanding quality of care, and outstanding outcomes for young people and achieved a good overall standard of care. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management good

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information 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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Information about this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the framework of inspection for children's homes.

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