Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Hartlepool

Good

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

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff have created an environment which provides homely and individualised care. Staff are effective in conveying to young people how much they are valued and respected.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The quality of relationships between staff and young people is excellent. Staff take every opportunity to seek the views of young people and, wherever possible, act on them.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Some young people’s behaviour is extremely challenging. Staff deal with this with skill and sensitivity. They help young people to understand their own behaviour and to become better at changing it. As a result, the need for physical restraint has reduced markedly.  Staff work in partnership with other agencies to keep young people safe both inside and outside the home. Sensible and proportionate risk assessment has enabled young people to enjoy increasing freedom in the community.  Staff work well as a team under the direction of an effective manager. Staff are committed to the home’s ethos and spend time reflecting on their practice and seeking ways to improve.  There are some weaknesses in recording. Some important information is not always recorded within young people’s case files. Case files themselves contain unnecessary duplication. Young people are required to sign an excessive number of forms. These shortfalls have minimal impact upon the

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3, specifically the date and result of any review of the placing authority's plan for the child. (Regulation 36(1)(a)) 24/07/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that the home provides a domestic and homely environment, specifically that children are not routinely required to sign consent forms (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15 paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Keep children's records up to date and stored securely, specifically that children's case files are well organised, accessible and do not contain unnecessary duplication. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 62 paragraph 14.3)

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Information about this children's home

The home accommodates up to three young people who may have emotional or behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

30/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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good

The home provides a secure and stable environment which is welcoming and responsive to young people’s needs. One young person said, ‘I like it here, I wouldn’t want to go anywhere else.’ Staff spend a great deal of time with young people, displaying genuine interest in their lives and helping them to overcome difficulties. Young people have a clear sense that the staff will not give up on them and provide them with a stable home for as long as they need it. One young person said, ‘Staff are great, they encourage me to attend work placement, and I enjoy spending time with my key worker. Staff help me, support me, make me feel safe. It’s a nice home.’ A social worker said, ‘The young person I work with is really happy here, they have good working relationships with the staff and it does feel like a home to her, a family home.’ Young people are actively involved in what goes on in the home. One said, ‘I get to

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good

choose things in the home, meals and stuff.’ They share in decision making whenever possible and appropriate. For example, bedrooms are decorated according to young people’s wishes. Changes are made in the home’s routines as a result of what young people say. The menu has recently been modified to make food choice more acceptable to young people while keeping it nutritious and varied. And, when young people said that they felt their regular group meetings were too formal, staff have devised a more relaxed but still effective format. Young people are confident that staff will listen to any worries or gripes. They know how to use the formal complaints process and how to contact people outside the home if necessary. One young person said, ‘If I needed to speak to someone about a member of staff or the manager, I know how to ring Ofsted.’ Young people have excellent school attendance, the two of school age having an

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good

average of 98%. This is a marked improvement over their previous level. Most are making good progress towards their academic targets. Some are struggling with schoolwork, but staff support them to do homework and work closely with schools to monitor progress and take additional action where necessary. Staff are creative in finding opportunities to help young people learn. For example, they hear young people read on the journey to school, or play word and number games at the kitchen table. Young people are able to enjoy a range of leisure and cultural pursuits. Many of these are in the community, such as Scouts and Boys’ Brigade. This is helpful in creating and developing social networks which will be important when they move on from the home. The home is good at promoting young people’s independence. Older young people undertake formal assessment of self-care skills and are supported in choosing their

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good

career pathway. Others are successfully encouraged to do things for themselves, for example, using public transport to get to school. Young people have made friends outside the home in the local community, further improving their confidence and self-esteem. Young people are in good health. They attend all necessary appointments and follow the advice of health professionals, for example in wearing glasses, or dental braces. Staff promote a healthy lifestyle and stimulate young people’s enthusiasm for exercise and games. Young people also have access to more specialist services. Staff work closely with these professionals. For example, staff set up daily monitoring of a particular issue for one young person and fed this information back to the consultant, which informed the treatment plan. With respect to young people’s emotional well-being, the registered provider’s own psychological service provides both direct work to young people and consultation to staff.

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good

Staff have a very good understanding of why young people sometimes present challenging behaviour. Their daily practice reflects the ethos contained in the home’s statement of purpose, which is to always accept the young person if not their behaviour. Staff help young people to work through feelings of distress or anger, and so develop better ways of coping when they feel upset. For many young people, contact with family members is difficult. Past experiences mean that some contact needs to be supervised to keep the young person safe. The home works well with placing authorities to arrange family meetings. This helps relationships between young people and their family members to be re- established and developed.

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outstanding

The home is exceptionally good at keeping young people protected from harm. Staff work in a planned way in partnership with placing authorities and other agencies to ensure that risks to young people are minimised. There are very few incidents of young people going missing, and these have decreased over time. When it has happened, the staff response is prompt and effective in returning the young person. In addition, young people do not engage in activities harmful to health, such as smoking or using alcohol. Some young people, in preparation for making the transition to independence, are spending periods of time away from the home. Even though these absences are authorised, staff are meticulous in checking on the safety of young people on a daily basis, both by telephone and face-to–face contact.

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outstanding

Staff are highly aware of any potential risks both within the home and in the community. For example, the appropriateness and suitability of the home’s location is particularly well assessed in consultation with a wide range of agencies. Information from one agency in particular has enabled the home to be aware of the specific threat of child sexual exploitation in the area. This means that staff can be aware of specific risks to young people in the local area and take action to manage them.

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outstanding

Staff take a very individual approach to each young person and their differing ability to protect themselves. They constantly review each young person’s behaviour and stage of development, with a view to giving them more freedom and enabling them to take measured risks appropriate to their age. For example, one young person is now allowed increasingly longer time playing with their friends in the local community. Staff took pains to discuss this in detail with them, being clear about how far they could travel and how long for. This helps to develop their own awareness of how to behave responsibly, keep themselves safe, and form productive relationships. A social worker said, ‘It has been important to maintain the young person’s stability which the home has done. This has helped him to develop emotionally and socially. Some young people are extremely energetic, demanding and attention-seeking. Staff respond with outstanding tolerance, watchfulness, sensitivity and empathy.

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outstanding

Occasionally, behaviour is challenging and aggressive, and sometimes violent. Staff deal with these incidents though careful planning and reflecting as a group on their practice. Staff are unwaveringly child-centred in responding to violence, even when they themselves have been injured. Accordingly, the use of the police in response to these incidents is rare, staff preferring to address such behaviour with the young person directly.

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outstanding

Restorative practice is a strong feature of the overall approach, staff helping young people to understand the impact of their actions upon the victim and make amends in some way. The effectiveness of the thoughtful and well-planned way in which staff manage behaviour is also reflected in the significant reduction in the use of physical restraint. A social worker said, ‘Behavioural challenges are managed well by staff, there are lots of positive role models in the staff group, who also work with the company psychologist to provide positive interventions.’

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outstanding

The restorative approach is also used by staff to manage conflict between young people. For example, one young person broke a cup belonging to another. In discussion with staff, the young person agreed to replace the cup from his own pocket money. In addition to the use of sanctions like this, staff record ‘positive consequences’. For example, a young person showed commendable restraint in the face of extreme provocation from one of the others. He was given lavish praise and a small reward, tangible evidence that staff had noticed how maturely he had dealt with the situation.

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good

The registered manager has been in post for just over a year. He has relevant qualifications and experience to meet the needs of the young people accommodated. He leads the staff team very effectively, and he has a presence which is highly visible to staff and young people. Staff comment on the quality of support they receive, which is evidenced in formal supervision, handover meetings, and accessibility to training. In addition, more informal discussions take place within the staff group in response to particular incidents. For example, following an assault by a young person upon a member of staff, the team discussed how best to address this behaviour both in the short and the long term. The ethos of the home is clearly set out in the statement of purpose. Moreover, staff are able to describe what the home aims to achieve and there is clear evidence that they put these principles into daily practice.

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good

The registered manager and senior staff have a good awareness of the quality of care which the home provides and how this helps young people to make progress. External monitoring is sound, although the registered provider is about to introduce a new quality assurance system to make this process more independent and robust. Staff are conscientious in driving forward plans for young people, for example, in ensuring for one young person that a promised mental health assessment takes place quickly. An independent reviewing officer commented, ‘The young person has made notable progress over the last review period. It has been important to maintain their stability which the home has done, helping them to develop emotionally and socially.’

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good

Staff encourage and enable young people to be involved in their own care planning. Some innovative work has taken place in this area. For example, staff have designed and implemented a child-friendly version of the care plan to suit the needs of one particular young person. Young people attend their care plan reviews and are confident in expressing their views. In one instance, however, the notes of a young person’s review were absent from the case file. This means that there is no written record for staff to refer to describing review decisions and actions to be taken. Records within the home are generally well organised. However, some young people’s case files are unnecessarily bulky because some documents require archiving and others are duplicated elsewhere. This hinders easy access to important information by staff. In addition, young people are required to sign a number of forms confirming that they understand things such as use of mobile

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good

phones and the complaints policy. This is institutional practice which is out of keeping with the overall domestic and family-like nature of the home. For example, it is commendable that staff consciously avoid using formal language in front of young people such as ‘staff handovers’, instead referring to them as ‘the grown- ups having their daily chat’.

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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. 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. 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. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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. 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

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. 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

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. 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 . 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,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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