Children's Home run by Stanfield Care Services Limited in Norfolk

Unique reference number SC451152 Inspector Gwen Buckley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered manager Margaret Georgina Marshall Date of last inspection 12/12/2013 2 of 11 Inspection date 10/09/2014

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Previous inspection good progress Enforcement action since last inspection none

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Overall effectiveness good

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

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Overall effectiveness

The house is very comfortable and welcoming and young people feel a sense of pride in the home. Staff provide a very stable, secure and happy environment in which young people flourish. Placing authorities are extremely complimentary about how settled the young people are. Young people’s individual growth is demonstrated through improvements in their ability to keep themselves safe; improvements in their educational achievements; a significant reduction in missing from care episodes and self-harming behaviours.

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Overall effectiveness

The safety and well-being of young people remains at the forefront of service delivery. A highly motivated staff team who know the young people well provide planned and highly individualised care. Staff effectively engage young people to develop care plans and agree on specific goals to work towards. The trusting relationships between young people and staff means young people begin to understand their personal histories and young people themselves consider the staff really care for them. As a result, staff can challenge young people when needed and still move forward effectively.

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Overall effectiveness

The manager and staff team are reflective and constantly look to develop the home and improve the quality of care. A particular strength of the home is the commitment to staff training and providing young people with good experiences and 3 of 11 memories of their time with them. Young people do well in school and teachers feel the staff work very well with them to ensure young people are safe and their educational needs are met.

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Overall effectiveness

Although young people’s individual needs are well met, there are some shortfalls in effectively documenting recruitment checks, restraint records and risk assessments. The manager has also been asked to attend training for a specific role and ensure quality monitoring is effective as well as securing the medication storage cupboard. 4 of 11

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is owned by a private organisation.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/12/2013 Interim good progress 16/07/2013 Full adequate

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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

9 (2001) ensure the registered manager shall undertake from time to time such training as is appropriate to ensure that he has the experience and skills necessary for managing the children’s home. This relates to designated person training (Regulation 9 (3)) 30/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure effective monitoring of the number of times that children accommodated at the children’s home are restrained and the steps taken by the children’s home to minimise the use of restraint (Regulation 34 Schedule 6 (12)) 30/11/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

4 (2001) ensure subject to paragraph (7), that the children’s home is at all times conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. This 30/11/2014 5 of 11 relates to the need to clarify the arrangements for young people when they visit the doctor. (Regulation 4 (6))

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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 the home implements a proportionate approach to any risk assessment. This relates to the involvement of relevant professionals in assessing risk and including the risk posed by plants (NMS 4.5)  ensure medicines which are kept in the home are stored safely and are accessible only by those for whom they are intended (NMS 6.12)  ensure management of the home ensures all staff’s work is consistent with these Regulations and NMS, the home’s policies and procedures. This relates to staff awareness of fire procedures and clarity of restraint records. (NMS 21.3) 6 of 11

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people make progress which is demonstrated through their progress at school, an increased awareness of how to keep safe and a significant reduction in risk taking behaviours.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people's learning is promoted by the staff who work exceptionally well with teachers, sharing information to help young people settle and do well in school. Teaching staff report that both young people and staff have high aspirations and young people make good progress at school. Some young people, who prior to placement had not attended school for some time, now attend and engage well in class and have achieved relevant qualifications.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people are healthy and live healthy lifestyles. Young people have a good range of meal choices that takes into account their individual preferences. They enjoy active and varied lives participating in a range of onsite and offsite activities. Young people have a say in how the home operates. At the young people’s request a badminton set was obtained for the garden. They stated they enjoy, ‘knock around with the staff.’ Young people volunteer as young leaders at a local youth club and are rightly proud of how they help others in the community.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people develop skills that promote their independence. Their developmental targets are set in accordance with their known ability. A new independence programme is in place to help young people develop at their pace and according to individually assessed needs. Transition planning ensures young people are well supported and ready to move on from the home.

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Quality of care good

Staff are aware of the educational abilities and goals of each of the young people. Staff are very aware that learning is something that is constantly taking place, helping young people gain an understanding of the world around them. Staff are imaginative in how they help each young person learn throughout the day. They achieve this through discussing particular events both in the home and in the wider world, as well as learning through activities.

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Quality of care good

Staff ensure that young people have activities available, both in the home and the local community, that young people enjoy and are tailored to their interests. For example, a local facility has a climbing wall event, which will be open to the public for a few days, and young people are being offered the chance to attend. One young person who is very interested in cultures and how people live in other countries was 7 of 11 taken abroad as a reward. While another young person was being taken to a concert where her favourite group was performing. Young people have very good memories and photographs of their holidays which they are happy to share.

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Quality of care good

Equality and diversity is threaded through the service with young people enjoying highly individualised care in accordance with their particular needs. Each young person has a detailed plan of care, which includes all key areas of need and details of their routines. Staff have an in-depth awareness of each of the young people and their likes and dislikes. As a result, young people feel important, they know staff care for them and take an interest in how they are doing and want them to do well now and in the future.

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Quality of care good

Good communication between staff and other adults working with the young people means that adults supporting the young people in their day-to-day lives are aware of essential information and changes. Young people have established strong relationships with staff and report the staff will, ‘Sort things for me here and at school.’

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Quality of care good

Placing authorities refer to a committed and resourceful staff team who ensure young people are very well supported and consider there is a strong therapeutic style of working that underpins the positive relationships between young people and staff. Young people who find it difficult to understand their past are supported effectively. They have access to various therapists as required and regular key worker sessions cover topics as they arise along with areas identified in reviews. Together these help young people to trust staff, and begin to understand and come to terms with their past and move on.

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Quality of care good

Staff work well in partnership with specialists, such as, educational psychologists and mental health professionals in order to support young people’s healthcare and development. Young people access medical professionals such as doctors, dentists, opticians and other specialists as appropriate. Medication administration and recording systems are well managed which ensures young people receive medication in a safe environment. However, medication storage is not secure.

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Quality of care good

Care planning reflects the views of different professionals working with the young people and the approach they should use in managing risk. For example, planned ignore, low level responses by staff or to get immediate help. This helps staff provide consistency of care.

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Quality of care good

Staff ensure young people enjoy active and varied lives. Staff support young people to pursue their interests though participating in community based clubs. Young people also enjoy getting involved in community events and enjoy individual activities such as jigsaws, biking, watching television and listening to music.

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Quality of care good

Staff are strong at building partnerships with families and supporting young people to maintain contacts which are important to them. Families consider staff help support 8 of 11 the whole family. They are very positive response about the care provided and feel staff have a great understanding of their views and take anything into account. They can’t think of anything the staff could do to improve the service. Young people show a reduction in self-harming, restraints and missing from care are significantly reduced.

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Quality of care good

The home provides young people with a clean, well decorated and maintained home which they are proud to welcome their family into. Young people have to keep their own room tidy and have chores to do in the home each day. They say they may not always like to do some of these chores but think it is only fair they do their bit.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Young people feel safe, secure and well cared for and all have someone they can talk with if they are sad. They report that when they have trouble at school the staff go to the school to support them. Where young people do exhibit unsafe behaviour such as self-harming staff are thorough in exploring this. Parents and placing authorities say that young people are safer as result of living at the home.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Staff demonstrate good empathy for young people and their understanding of the world. Staff appreciate how historical experiences impact on young people's understanding and presenting behaviours and they maintain strong but caring boundaries. They reward and praise good behaviour and challenge unwanted behaviour ensuring young people know what is expected of them. Staff are aware what to do should a child protection concern be raised.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Safeguarding vulnerable young people remains at the forefront of all practice and is an agenda topic for all supervisions. The local missing from care co-ordinator is very complimentary about the way staff manage young people at risk of absconding. He reports a significant reduction in the frequency of these events after young people move to the home. Staff are clear about the actions to take should a young person go missing which helps to protect young people.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Restraint and sanctions are not used routinely. Young people feel the sanctions used are fair. They state after a sanction or a restraint takes place staff talk to them about why it had to happen and how to prevent them in the future. When staff guide young people away from situations, this is recorded as a restraint. The terminology used in these records would indicate it is restraint for compliance, which is not allowed. The monitoring of the record by the Registered Manager and responsible individual had not noted this and does not reflect the actual number of restraints seen. This does not fully protect young people. However, young people confirmed that staff do not restrain them for not doing as they are told and feel that restraints are only used to keep them or others safe. They also confirm restraints do not happen often. 9 of 11 Recruitment processes are not robust. Information obtained when telephone

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

references are made is not clearly recorded Guidance is being developed to cover this issue and checks were undertaken and record for the most recent recruitments A decision has been made to move the recruitment process to the organisation’s human resources department. The Registered Manager stated this decision has been made to ensure people undertaking the checks have the time to do this thoroughly and that they have completed the safer recruitment training.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Robust systems are in place to ensure the on-going safety of the building. Regular checks are undertaken and effective systems are in place to service equipment. Monthly fire drills take place at different times of the day and night. Staff and young people have regular fire safety training. This means that they all understand the dangers fire poses and feel confident they can get out of the building should they need to. However, staff have differing views on what they should do if a young person were to refuse to leave the building which potentially puts both young people and themselves at risk.

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Leadership and management good

The manager leads by example and has high expectations for staff care practice. She has a national vocational qualifications (NVQ) at level four in health and social care (children) and a leadership and management award at level five.

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Leadership and management good

Staff are competent and well trained. A particular strength of the home is that all staff are expected to have or are working towards the level five award. They all undertake training to meet the specific needs of the young people they care for, such as self-harming, child sexual exploitation and attachment focused play. Investment in staff training means that staff feel valued and are able to confidently and competently perform their role. However, the Registered Manager is the designated person responsible for managing any allegations and has not had training in line with this responsibility. As a result, not all the functions and responsibilities of the post may be fully understood.

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Leadership and management good

Staff work well as a team and provide consistency of care where young people are able to thrive. Families and professionals say that the home provides a high standard of care. They have confidence in the manager’s and staff’s ability to keep the young people safe and respond to any issues of concern in a professional manner.

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Leadership and management good

The home is working in line with its statement of purpose. However, the statement of purpose does not reflect the practice in the home. It states all young people will be able to see the doctor on their own. Young people from ten years old may be cared for in the home. This means that while the statement reflects the child's right to privacy, it does not enable staff to effectively support younger children. When issues arise within daily living routines, staff are resourceful in finding solutions. They are competent in the roles they perform, work well together and establish positive 10 of 11 relationships with young people, parents and other agencies to improve the outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management good

The manager has a clear development plan to improve the service. This includes enhancing facilities for young people preparing for independence by providing a dedicated living area for this within the grounds. Recent development means the quality of fire drills and training for young people has improved. As a result, the time it takes to evacuate the home is monitored and improved.

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Leadership and management good

The one recommendation made at the previous inspection has been addressed. Risk assessments in the main clearly identify the risk and the action staff should to take to minimise it. The views of other professionals, such as those working with young people who may self-harm, are included in the risk assessment although they are not asked to agree and sign the risk assessments. No risk assessment in place includes risks posed from poisonous plants grown in the garden. 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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