Children's Home run by HAVEN CARE GROUP LIMITED in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC474179 Inspector Phillip Morris Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered manager Sarah Victoria Pearson / Alexander James Dingle Date of last inspection 22/08/2014 2 of 7 Inspection date 29/01/2015

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Previous inspection adequate Enforcement action since last inspection none

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This inspection

This home was judged adequate at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has sustained effectiveness .

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This inspection

Since the last full inspection a Registered Manager has been appointed. As a result, the leadership, management and quality of care have improved. Systems within the home are more established and effective. This increased oversight ensures young people receive all the necessary help and support they need to optimise their well- being.

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This inspection

Recruitment of staff remains good, with robust processes in place to help minimise the possibility of young people being abused by those in positions of trust. Staff are supported, supervised and accountable in their work with young people. Staff use this guidance to appraise their practice. Ongoing training opportunities help to build the skills and working practices of staff, especially in areas of safeguarding and managing behaviour. As a result, young people are better protected from staff who are more informed about how to keep them safe.

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This inspection

At the full inspection a recommendation was made for the home to have a development plan, this has now been implemented. This helps to measure levels of achievement in performance and to capture young people’s outcome.

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This inspection

The home lacks a robust quality assurance process that ensures monthly reports on the conduct of the home and revised Statement of Purpose are promptly sent to Ofsted. This hinders Ofsted staying well informed on the level of self-evaluation and any changes in the service.

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This inspection

Confidential information is not always kept secure. This means young people’s rights to having personal information kept confidential is compromised. For example, personal information is left unsecured and easily accessible to contractors working within the home. 3 of 7 The home is warm with a caring atmosphere. The fabric of the house is homely and inviting. One young person reported the home was ‘just like a normal home’ and ‘I get looked after’.

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This inspection

Since the last inspection two young people have left the home. In both instances these were unplanned discharges. The home has worked collaboratively with other services in these instances, to ensure the transition for young people goes smoothly and key information is shared. This helped avoiding the destabilising of young people’s progress. New young people admitted to the home are supported by plans overseen by the Registered Manager. These are developed from the information received from the local authority and the previous placements. Plans consist of actions required including services young people may need, to thrive physically, emotionally and educationally.

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This inspection

Where young people have raised concerns over the conduct of staff, the home has taken the appropriate action in line with local safeguarding children procedures. These actions in turn have ensured complaints are taken serious and young people are assured their views matter.

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This inspection

Young people continue to have their education valued. They are actively encouraged to maintain good school attendance. Their health needs remain well met. This includes receiving annual health assessments and access to opticians and dentist to ensure health surveillance stays at the heart of care practice. At the full inspection one recommendation was made for the home to ensure young people’s health is promoted in accordance with the placement plan. This has been addressed. As a result, plans are more carefully linked to young people’s presenting needs.

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This inspection

The home has developed a partnership with a therapeutic service to ensure young people’s emotional needs are better met. Young people in placement will, within the first four weeks receive a therapeutic assessment. This therapeutic assessment will inform the care planning for the young person and ensure emotional needs are met. The home utilise a life skills programme with young people. This programme develops a young person’s independence skills and life skills more generally. This programme is carried out with the young people themselves and is adjusted to meet the young people’s changing needs. This helps to prepare young people for adulthood once they are ready to leave care.

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This inspection

Young people are safeguarded and their needs met through the Registered Manager and staff members working well with health, local authority, education and other partner agencies. For example, the Registered Manager has attended local groups organised by the Police to prevent young people from going missing from care. The home has an established core group of local agencies who are able to offer services to young people such education and health. These local connections ensure young people receive services quickly and that there is good communication between 4 of 7 agencies for the benefit of young people.

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This inspection

The home continues to ensure full compliance with health and safety requirements including the home’s risk assessments, and fire and evacuation procedures. The relationships between young people are given a high priority by the staff team. There are no incidents of reported bullying. This is closely monitored by the Registered Manager for any early indicators and to ensure if necessary prompt action is taken. 5 of 7

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children's home that can accommodate up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties between the ages of 8 to 17 years.

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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) ensure that the registered person shall provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI 20/03/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the registered provider shall provide a copy of the report required to be made under paragraph (4)(c)to-HMCI 20/03/2015

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the registered person shall supply to HMCI a report in respect of any review conducted by him for the purposes of paragraph (1), and make a copy available on request to placing authorities where the placing authority is not a parent of a child accommodated in the home. 20/03/2015

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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

 information about individual children is kept confidential and only shared with those who have a legitimate need to know the information (NMS 6 of 7 22.3) Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Recommendations

This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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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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