Children's Home run by Doncaster Children‟s Services Trust Limited in Doncaster

Inspector Stella Henderson

Previous inspection judgement Not judged

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Inspector Stella Henderson

Enforcement action since last inspection None

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people living in the home are

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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This children’s home provision is good because:

 The home meets the main objective of its Statement of Purpose. This is to successfully offer time limited packages of direct work aimed at preventing children and young people coming into the care system.

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This children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff quickly engage with children, young people and their families to tackle problematic behaviour and effect meaningful change. This enables them to sustain their relationships with their families and maintain links with their communities.

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This children’s home provision is good because:

 Children and young people are safe when receiving services from and at the home. There is effective collaborative working with safeguarding and other agencies, such as health and education.

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This children’s home provision is good because:

 The manager is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the service and eager to continually improve the service provided. The team are effective in motivating staff and modelling good practice, which is evidenced in their commitment and quality of care experienced by young people.

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This children’s home provision is good because:

 Two recommendations are raised in relation to amendments to the Statement of Purpose and linking interventions more clearly to other relevant plans.

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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

 review and amend the Statement of Purpose specifically to reflect the work undertaken with children in foster care (The Guide 3.5)

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Recommendations

 ensure work undertaken with children and young people is more closely link to their relevant plans. (The Guide 11.1)

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by Doncaster Children’s Services Trust. It provides time-limited intervention to children and young people who are at risk of entering the care system. This includes offering an intensive support packages to young people with overnight stays if necessary. The home also supports young people in foster placements where the plan is for rehabilitation back to family.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 29 January 2015 Interim Not judged

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Good

The primary aim of the home’s Statement of Purpose is to prevent children and young people entering into the care system. This has been achieved and in the overwhelming majority of the worked with so far, children and young people are still living with their families.

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Good

P arents therefore retain primary responsibility for their children's overall welfare, health and education. Staff works effectively in partnership with parents. They support progress in these areas by helping children and young people continue with the daily routine of their lives, addressing any specific health or educational issues and liaising with other professionals when required.

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Good

Children and young are referred to the service with a variety of difficulties with routines, challenging parental authority or placing themselves at risk by their behaviours for example. The home provides children and young people with experiences and interventions to successfully address these issues. Children and young people’s positive experiences are based on good assessment, clarity about expectations, and a shared understanding about what needs to be done for things to change. Staff quickly establish a friendly rapport with children and young people and their families. Together they plan interventions that are tailored to each situation and where targets are clearly defined. Parents confirm they are fully involved as partners in this process. Young people understand why they are receiving a service and are given helpful ‘tools’, such as star charts, to track their own progress. Using a range of interventions such as direct work with the child, overnight stays if

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Good

necessary and role modelling for parents, staff quickly get to work on providing highly focussed and practical support. As a result there are a lot of ‘quick wins’ for all concerned, in terms of improvement in behaviour, attitude and parents feeling empowered. Parents and carers value the service and can see it has an immediate impact. One carer said, ‘I couldn’t have wished for a better team of people. The worker connected immediately with my child – and what a change!’ Judgement grade

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Good

Challenging behaviour is a common feature of the presenting needs of children and young people needing a service. Staff understand that behaviour is affected by emotions and experiences. They address this by providing a calm environment where children and young people can talk about their concerns. There is a good deal of work around ‘emotional intelligence’ to help them explore their feelings. Positive behaviours are rewarded and, in line with the home’s ethos, staff adopt a ‘restorative’ approach to behaviour management. This helps children and young people reflect on their behaviour, take responsibility for their actions and work through how they will do things differently. A social worker noted, ‘ For the child, this has been a place where the anxieties he experiences at home are laid to rest for a period of time, and this is demonstrated in his behaviour.’

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Good

Parents and carers say their children safe when they are staying at the home. They trust the staff with the care of their children. Children and young people are nurtured and they feel safe here. A young person noted in their feedback to the home that, ‘ I did feel welcome and safe here.’ Staff manage risk safely. Young people’s social workers expressed a clear confidence in the home’s ability to keep young people safe. A social worker noted, ‘ I believe that the home provides a very safe provision.’ Since the provision opened there has been only one incident of a young person leaving the home without permission. Appropriate procedures were followed and escalated appropriately. In those situations where child sexual exploitation may be an area for concern, there is focussed work with young people and good interagency collaborative working.

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Good

A suitably qualified and experienced manager leads a highly experienced and well- established team. This has enabled this new service to get off to a very successful start and fulfil the objectives in its’ Statement of Purpose. A minor amendment is needed to this document to clarify how the home helps those with a plan for rehabilitation from foster care. A recommendation is set to address this.

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Good

Key to this success is the motivation and enthusiasm of staff. They understand their remit and are very confident practitioners. They speak in positive terms about their work and feel they contribute to the homes future development. The manager is clearly aware of the strengths emerging so far, and areas in need of further development of the home.

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Good

The manager, supported by a deputy manager, play to the strengths and areas of expertise of staff in considering the allocation of cases. Staff clearly have the skills, experience and qualifications to meet the needs of young people. Training is highly focussed to the task of keeping families together and ‘what works’ . Along with reflective practice, this is helping to establish a good evidence base and is adding to the repertoire of skills of staff.

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Good

A social worker commented, ‘The family I referred are very complex and we have tried lots of different provisions/services that have not proven successful. I can report that after the initial meeting with the staff at the home I left feeling confident that they had the skills and expertise to make some positive changes in this case.’

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Good

Individual plans are clear and specific about the help that children and their families will receive. A recommendation is made to support the provider in improving these to link them more directly with other relevant plans .

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Good

The help being offered to children and young people is regularly evaluated through effective monitoring systems and feedback from families. For example, a mid-point survey asks the family whether interventions are working, or whether things need to be changed.

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Good

This helps to provide children and young people and their families with a flexible and responsive service. One carer noted, ‘they are always on the phone when you need them. They gave me a lot of personal support and helped me to turn the situation around.’

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children’s home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time.

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What the inspection judgements mean

A good children’s home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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What the inspection judgements mean

In a children’s home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children’s home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people

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What the inspection judgements mean

A children’s home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children’s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

This 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 Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards. procedures set out in the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection.

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Information about this inspection

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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