Children's Home run by Break Charity in Norfolk

Unique reference number SC025718 Inspector Stella Lovie Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Break Registered person address Davison House 1 Montague Road SHERINGHAM Norfolk NR26 8WN Responsible individual Hilary Bridget Richards Registered manager David Lee Harwood Date of last inspection 29/01/2014 2 of 11 Inspection date 07/01/2015

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

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Overall effectiveness

Young people live in a home that operates to a good overall standard. They make sound progress in most aspects of their development from when they first came to live in the home. As one young person commented: ‘The staff are all good, the place is very laid back and I haven’t needed to be restrained like I was in my previous placement. It feels like a luxurious place and perfect for someone who wants to be here. I’ve stopped going missing so much and using drugs as much as I used to.’ However, young people’s education attendance and participation remains an area where further improvements need to be secured.

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Overall effectiveness

The home supports young people to thrive in a stable environment in which they can develop safe and secure relationships. They receive highly individualised quality support from staff. They say they feel safe at the home and respected by staff. Staff know the young people well, develop positive relationships with them, protect them and promote their welfare. That said, there needs to be clearer policy and practice around the management of young people who abuse drugs.

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Overall effectiveness

Since the last inspection in January 2014, the home had a period of instability with high levels of young people going missing, and associated risk-taking behaviours. This has settled down very considerably over the last few months and those risk- taking behaviours have significantly reduced. It reflects the positive and successful 3 of 11 partnership working by the home with relevant agencies. In general, young people are safeguarded by very competent child protection practice.

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Overall effectiveness

Leadership is visible and influential. There is a suitably qualified and experienced Registered Manager in post. He is able to demonstrate the positive impact the home has had on young people’s lives. The staff team are experienced and committed. One requirement is made to ensure greater scrutiny and rigour in the quality of the independent visitor reports. Several recommendations are made to further drive forward improvements for young people. 4 of 11

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Information about this children’s home

This children's home provides accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home is owned by a registered charity that also owns a number of other children's homes.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2014 Interim good progress 22/05/2013 Full adequate 14/01/2013 Interim inadequate progress 26/09/2012 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

(2001) ensure that the independent person interviews parents and relatives as appears necessary to inform an opinion as to whether children are effectively safeguarded, and whether the conduct of the children's home promotes the well-being of children accommodated there. (Regulation 33 (8) (a) (i) (ii)) 11/03/2015

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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

 encourage young people to have their views recorded in the records kept by the home of any sanctions, disciplinary measures or restraint (NMS 3.18)  ensure that children's safety and welfare is promoted in the home, with specific regard to policy and practice in relation to the management of substance misuse (NMS 4.1)  ensure all new staff are working towards the level 3 Children and Young People's Workforce Diploma within 6 months of confirmation of employment (NMS 18.5)  ensure that staff annual staff appraisals take into account any views of children the service is providing for (NMS 19.6)  ensure that children are assisted to obtain the support of an independent advocate to help them in providing their views, wishes and feelings to statutory reviews (NMS 25.7)  ensure that the result of all statutory reviews are recorded on the child's file, and individuals responsible for pursuing actions at the home arising

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Recommendations

from reviews are clearly identified (NMS 25.8)  ensure that when a missing child is found, they are offered an independent return interview. The interview should be carried out within 72 hours of the child returning to their care setting. This should be an in-depth interview and is normally best carried out by an independent person (someone not involved in caring for the child) who is trained to carry out these interviews and is able to follow-up any actions that emerge.(Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care, January 2014, para 31-32) 6 of 11

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people are supported to express their views freely about any issues, which are then listened to and acted on by staff. There is frequent dialogue and discussion about both future and day-to-day plans. They are regularly consulted about their care and how it is delivered. As one independent reviewing officer confirmed: ‘My young person always seems quite relaxed there and clearly feels comfortable with the staff. She is able to voice her views in the meetings and staff support her to make this an easy process.’ However, some young people feel strongly that their views about their care planning are not respected by the statutory agencies involved with them. These young people have yet to be offered the support of an independent advocate to help them put forward their wishes and feelings in a constructive way. This compromises ownership of their care plans and limits their attachment to the home.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people are encouraged to learn how to regulate their emotions and acquire reflective skills to make sense of what has happened to them. As a result, they learn better control of impulses and difficult emotions so they are more equipped for successful adult life. Incidents of risk-taking behaviours have consequently reduced. As one social worker commented: ‘Her behaviour and attitude have changed a lot for the good since she has been in the home.’ Young people are able to see their families and friends and have overnight stays. This promotes their sense of well-being. Where relevant, young people acquire practical and life skills in line with their cognitive abilities to prepare them for adult life. For example, opportunities are available to be involved in various aspects of budgeting, shopping and cooking with the support of staff. This assists with the development of independent life skills.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

All young people are offered tailor–made opportunities to engage with education provisions. Some attend quite well and make good progression with their chosen areas of study. This promotes their self-esteem and bodes well for their future economic life chances. Others though make very limited progress as they choose not to cooperate with the various options they are given. This means their lives currently lack structure and purpose.

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Outcomes for children and young people adequate

Young people live reasonably healthy lifestyles. Their immediate and long-term health needs are addressed, and they are beginning to take responsibility for aspects of their own physical health. For example, age-appropriate young people take responsibility for some aspects of their medication. All the young people undertake regular exercise and are encouraged to eat a healthy diet. Young people have good engagement with mental health services. This helps them to develop an understanding of their lives, employ coping strategies and gain some resilience to adversity. They benefit from good access to specialist advice about sexual health and substance abuse, though not all avail themselves of these services. This means 7 of 11 lifestyle choices around substance misuse remain a problem for some young people.

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Quality of care good

Staff work hard to establish and maintain positive relationships with young people based on the values of good parenting and trust. They are caring and kind, good at communicating with young people, and have a sense of humour. As a result young people enjoy warm relationships with staff in the home and there is a good rapport between them. As one social worker said: ‘He is an extremely complex young person. He has significant difficulties. He is just beginning to open up to staff, especially to his key worker. It means he is beginning to develop relationships there.’

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Quality of care good

Staff have a calm and connected approach to young people which ensures any temporary ruptures to relationships are quickly repaired. Young people feel understood and cared about. This enables them to tolerate correction of their behaviour. It helps them to learn that making mistakes is not catastrophic and relationships can survive difficult interactions and be repaired. It serves to bolster their sense of self. As one relative confirmed: ‘I feel the service and care provided is great and they always take good care of him. The home involves me in decisions around my son and I am well informed by them. They are continuing to try to work with him and when he makes mistakes, they try to work with him to make them right. ‘ Staff are clearly aware of the key focuses for each young person and what goals they are working towards. Their care-giving is sensitive and responsive to age, disability, ethnicity, faith, gender, gender identity, language, race and sexual orientation. This

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Quality of care good

helps young people to develop a positive self-view, an ability to form and sustain attachments and to build emotional resilience. Staff are strong in their immediate challenge of all racist, homophobic or sexist comments. This helps young people to better understand the diverse society they live within and to learn the value of tolerance and cohesion.

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Quality of care good

Young people are encouraged to make choices and see the consequences of their actions, both good and bad. Task focussed work is used to enable young people to organise themselves for adult life. Staff actively pursue referrals to get the right kind of support for young people's complex needs, particularly in relation to their emotional and psychological health. Community mental health team support is accessed in a timely and appropriate manner. Life story work is undertaken to support young people in developing a sense of identity. Consistently well-written placement plans outline how young people’s needs will be met. Staff put these plans into practice using different agencies and resources as appropriate. This means young people receive a highly individualised service. However, placement plans are not always up-dated promptly in relation to decisions made in statutory reviews. This 8 of 11 impedes fully effective placement planning.

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Quality of care good

Staff champion young people's educational needs through proactive partnerships with teachers, the independent reviewing officers and social workers They work closely with educational professionals to get bespoke help and support for young people. As one social worker confirmed: ‘Staff have tried everything they can think of to engage him. They are very good at trying to come up with new ways of working with him.’ However, despite these efforts, some young people choose to remain disengaged from their education.

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Quality of care good

Staff provide good opportunities for young people to contribute to the development of the home through group and individual meetings. Young people confirm that staff listen well to them, and respond promptly to any matters raised. Young people have access to their own house phone and are clear about how to make a complaint. There have been no complaints in the last year. This demonstrates that staff are effective in managing minor grumbles without the need for them to become issues of concern. Staff support and encourage young people in their interests, find out what each young person would like to do and let them try new activities. For example, young people play in local football teams and have had opportunities to experience foreign travel. This encourages social skills and broadens their horizons.

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Quality of care good

Staff have a good understanding of young people's individual healthcare needs and ensure they are met on a day-to-day basis. Good policies and practices around the storage, administration, management and disposal of medication safeguards young people's welfare. Each young person is encouraged to make their own choices and decisions about their health, treatment and lifestyle, and encouraged to maintain good personal hygiene. Young people are also advised and educated in respect of risk behaviours such as substance abuse and sexual activity. There are good collaborative links with health professionals and other agencies. This allows helpful guidance and support to be provided when young people are most in need.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

A strong focus on the protection of young people means that their safety and well- being remain central to the running of the home. Young people consequently report that they feel safe there. They are confident that staff will help them with any problems in they may have. As one social worker confirmed: ‘She feels this is her home, feels safe here and has good relationships with staff. She feels able to talk to them about anything.’ Group living expectations are clear and conflict is well- managed. Good staffing levels ensure that any potential episodes of bullying are identified and addressed immediately. There is a strong commitment by staff to tackle all types of bullying through initiatives and strategies that improve behaviour and increase awareness. This well-implemented approach means no young person experiences any form of bullying or discrimination from their fellow residents or staff. This helps to promote young people’s sense of well-being and belonging.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

9 of 11 Staff manage behaviour within positive and proactive behaviour management strategies tailored to each young person. Young people are respected as emerging young adults. This effective behaviour management is based on dialogue, negotiation and sensitive guidance from staff. This helps young people to work things out for themselves, make informed choices and take responsibility for their decision-making. As a result, there is no restraint of young people and the level of sanctions is very low. There is some improvement from the last inspection in getting young people to comment on sanctions given but it still does not happen on every occasion. The manager acknowledges that they could be better at this as it is important in helping young people to reflect on their actions.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Risk assessments are thorough, insightful and highly individualised, and reflect the diverse needs and personalities of young people. They are clear about actions for staff to take to address known risks. There are areas for improvement though in relation to providing more detail about strategies for staff to follow when young people come back to the home under the influence of substances. The home’s policy and procedures around substance misuse are actively under review by the wider organisation in consultation with relevant agencies. Current practice potentially fails to fully address young people’s welfare.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

There are highly effective and well-embedded working relationships with a range of local safeguarding agencies. Placing social workers and independent reviewing officers confirm this. They compliment the manager and staff on the pro-active approach to managing and reducing risk, and in identifying and promptly responding to emerging concerns. For example, previously high levels of young people going missing from the home have been significantly reduced through very effective working together with the police. As one external professional stated: ‘Staff have been fantastic at supporting my relationship with him. They have done great work around his missings and have been supported in this by really good partnership working with the local police. This has meant that excellent intelligence gathering has helped to safeguard him. It has had a massively positive impact on his going missing. It has also helped to reduce his opportunities to abuse substances.’ However,

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Keeping children and young people safe good

practice could be further improved with the consistent use of return interviews by independent people. Currently these do not happen every time a young person returns from being missing, and the home thus misses important information to further reduce such incidents.

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Leadership and management good

The home has a Registered Manager who is very experienced and suitably qualified. He is supported by a qualified deputy manager and senior staff who assist with the running of the home and the supervision of staff. Together they make a strong team. The home follows a social pedagogy model and has been active in visiting similar resources in Germany, with plans for German professionals to visit the home 10 of 11 this year. This demonstrates a good commitment to learning and development.

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Leadership and management good

The manager’s presence permeates throughout the home in a relaxed and comfortable way. He has created a collaborative culture which is fair and takes account of staff differences. Staff report that they feel well managed, enjoy good supervision and benefit from working within a cohesive and supportive team. Supervisors help supervisees develop professional competence, and personal and organisational accountability to ensure improved outcomes for young people. This facilitates learning, promotes staff motivation and provides good role modelling for the young people.

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Leadership and management good

Staff report a high level of satisfaction with the training on offer within the organisation. Individual staff training needs are identified and managed through personal development plans. These are reviewed annually through appraisal but do not include young people’s views. This means the manager misses a useful source of information to fully evaluate staff performance. The organisation has recently recognised that bank staff have not had equal access to professional training. This means that some staff have not started their required diplomas within six months of commencing employment. Although plans are in place for this to happen, those staff are still not on the training at the point of this inspection. This has inhibited their professional development and effective care of young people.

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Leadership and management good

There are clear and effective procedures for monitoring and controlling the activities of the home by the manager. This includes the physical environment, any serious incidents, and the quality of the provision. Young people in the home are regularly involved in contributing to this monitoring, and their views and any concerns are seriously taken into account. The manager provides three monthly reports to the regulator which are evaluative and seek to improve the standard of care. He is able to demonstrate the impact of improvements that have been made and how these have contributed towards young people’s progress. The home is regularly monitored by an independent visitor. However, reports of these visits fail to take into account the views of relatives and placing authorities. As a result, important information is again missed in forming an opinion about the quality of care and the conduct of the

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Leadership and management good

home. There is evidence that the manager has tried to address this concern, and there is recognition within the wider organisation that this remains an area for improvement.

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Leadership and management good

The statement of purpose defines the life and work of the home in straightforward and unambiguous language. It helps placing authorities and relatives to be clear about how the home works and what to expect from the service. The home is warm and welcoming and is maintained to a good standard. It means that young people are provided with a living environment which is suited to their individual needs and reflects the high value placed on them. 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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