Children's Home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited in Bristol

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:

 Safeguarding practice in the home is exceptionally well managed by a very competent manager and supported by a knowledgeable deputy and staff team. Young people feel safe and become increasingly safe due to the guidance provided by staff.  Staff provide young people with effective support, help and protection. Young people are becoming increasingly safer because staff have helped them to reduce their risk taking behaviour, including risk of exploitation, substance use and being away from home for long periods.  Developing young people’s independence is a key strength of the home. As a result young people are supported to have successful transitions to independence which is effectively preparing them to move into adulthood.  Young people are cared for by a compassionate and committed group of staff who want them to achieve their personal goals. Effective partnership working with parents, carers, placing authorities and the wider system ensures young

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The children's home provision is good because:

people benefit from consistency of care.  The care provided for young people by staff is well planned and takes account of their needs and vulnerabilities. Staff know young people well and they work pro- actively with other agencies to meet the needs of young people.  Individualised care supports young people to develop improved emotional resilience. Staff support young people to learn and embed the skills they will need to live independently in the future.  Young people are much more able to manage their own feelings and anxieties since coming to the home due to effective support from staff. As a result there continues to be a significant decline in the number of behavioural incidents and physical interventions.  The management of the home continues to improve. The Registered Manager has addressed the issues from the last inspection but there is a shortfall of recorded supervision for staff within their probationary period, a requirement is

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The children's home provision is good because:

made in relation to this. However this has not had an impact on the quality of care or safeguarding of young people.

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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 ensure that all employees— receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 30/9/15

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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 a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager, to evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation; (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Recommendations

 ensure that the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is monitored, and having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;(this is in relation to the development plan for the home) (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 51, paragraph 13.3)

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Recommendations

 ensure that the best use of information from internal and external monitoring (under regulation 44 and 45) is used to develop further the continuous improvement of the home ( this is in relation to the development plan for the home) (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Information about this children's home

This service is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities. It is owned by a private company that also operates other children's homes in the surrounding area.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

07/10/2014 CH - Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

24/01/2014 CH - Interim Satisfactory Progress

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good

The staff team provides young people with personalised care packages, which are regularly reviewed in order to meet their changing needs and circumstances. Consequently, both their current and developing needs are met in a planned way. Staff support young people to contribute to their care plans and the running of the home.

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good

The wishes and views of young people are actively sought through individual key work sessions, one to one discussion, informal daily discussions, and weekly residents meetings. Staff provide effective support for young people and enable them to attend and participate in all meetings that are pertinent to them, such as their looked after children’s review, their pathway planning meetings, meetings with external providers and agencies and reintegration into education employment or training.

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good

Relationships between a committed and stable staff group and young people are supportive and effective, even when young people present with challenging behaviours or circumstances. Mutual respect and dignity is the foundation upon which the staff base their support for young people. Staff have high expectations of themselves and the young people. Staff are skilled at building positive working relationships with young people, as a result young people are allowed the opportunity to understand and manage their emotions, and thoughts about their past, present and future personal circumstances. Staff provide young people with advice and guidance and encourage them to develop alternative strategies to self-regulate and better manage their thoughts and feelings. As a result of this support a significant decline in the number of behavioural incidents, physical interventions and risk taking behaviour is reducing for some young people.

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good

The general physical, psychological and emotional health needs of young people are recognised and addressed timely and appropriately. All young people are registered with appropriate doctors, dentists and optician as part of their induction to the home. They are supported and actively encouraged to access routine and specialist health care services within their individual health care plans. The registered manager has supported the development of a fitness room at the home; this enables young people to be supported in accessing appropriate exercise and healthy lifestyles. As a result young people receive the correct level of support and care to ensure they achieve the best physical and emotional health care possible. Staff actively promote education,training and employment for all young people. They encourage and support them to attend their education training and work based learning placements and reinforce to young people the importance of a

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good

good education and qualifications in improving their future life chances. Staff pro-actively support young people and their connections in the wider work and education communities encouraging timekeeping, attendance, and engagement.

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good

Staff are skilled in supporting young people to develop independence and life skills, relevant to their age, level of understanding and ability. Those who are eligible have pathway plans in place and young people are well supported in working towards their individual goals that are agreed and recorded in these plans. Some have progressed successfully to semi-independence. Young people confirm that they receive good support in this area and are feeling adequately equipped for the transition to adulthood.

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good

The home is located in a residential area approximately two miles from a city centre. The Registered Manager is well aware of the potential hazards to young people's safety in an inner-city area and has conducted a robust local area assessment to assess and manage any identified risks.

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good

The Registered Manager and staff engage in a local community allotment project which young people are actively encouraged to manage as an enterprise project. This enables young people to access a range of services and engage in a variety of chosen activities within close proximity of their home.

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good

Staff are undertaking a programme of refurbishment and redecoration to the home. Young people are actively encouraged to contribute to this in a hands on way, whether this is with the actual work or suggestions about design and colour. Their rooms are personalised, and small pets are permitted when appropriate for the individual. This contributes to living in a clean, safe, and tidy environment. There is ample communal space for young people to spend time together as well as spaces where they can take quiet time if needed.

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outstanding

Young people state that they feel safe in the home and are confident they live in a safe environment. Parents and other professionals who work with young people and their families share this view. A social worker said’ The information from the manager and the staff is really good, they keep us well informed about what is going on, particularly around any safeguarding risks such as going missing or child sexual exploitation’.

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outstanding

The Registered Manager and the staff prioritise keeping young people safe. Individualised risk assessments and plans are in place taking account of each young person’s vulnerabilities. Systems in place to protect young people are excellent, with all staff receive initial safeguarding training through the local safeguarding children’s board, which is supported and refreshed on an annual basis as are the homes policies and procedures. The links with the local authority safeguarding services and other external agencies are also excellent.

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outstanding

Young people rarely go missing, although some do go absent without permission from time to time; however the systems are in place to manage such incidents, which are fully understood by staff and have been developed in partnership with the local police protocol. Young people who live at the home have in their previous placements had a history of regularly running away. Since coming to the home, these types of incidents have, overtime, vastly reduced for these young people.

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outstanding

The Registered Manager has, since the last inspection, conducted a full location risk assessment and she is well aware of the potential hazards to young people's safety in inner-city areas. The locality risk assessment is a robust document, and is produced in consultation with all wider partner agencies.

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outstanding

The manager makes clear links between its missing from care policy and child sexual exploitation. Young people who present signs of being at risk are fully assessed and again local police protocols are adopted, and if necessary referred to the local safeguarding procedures for action to be taken.

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outstanding

Behaviour management in the home is very well managed with restraint being used minimally as a last resort. Staffs are skilled at negotiation and de-escalation with young people and are very good at recognising triggers and when a young person may benefit from a change of worker supporting them. They seamlessly swap roles, so that the young person is able to calm down and not focus on one staff member. As a result incidents of restraint and sanctions are reduced, and young people learn the value of compromise and negotiation. The young people living in the home benefit from a positive core staff team, where care and support are used in preference to sanctions. The respectful relationships between staff and young people, and where appropriate their families, allow them to develop and mature in a non-judgemental safe environment. Consequently they are supported to thrive and grow towards their independence, entering adulthood

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good

The qualified and experienced Registered Manager leads her staff efficiently and effectively, with a strong commitment to a continued cycle of improvement of the quality of care within the home. She is supported by an area manager and the responsible individual, the wider organisation works in a co-operative and cohesive way through its homes, which provides an additional network of support for the manager.

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good

One recommendation was made at the last interim inspection with regards to staff training, particularly in relation to child sexual exploitation. This has been addressed through the local safeguarding children board training provider and is in line with other safeguarding training in the home and refreshed annually.

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good

Staffing levels at the home are appropriate to meet young people’s needs, with a core staff group. Use of bank and agency staff is kept to a minimum, and when vacancies arise they are quickly filled by appropriately experienced people. Staff retention and morale are high. Staff say that they feel well supported by the manager and the team and that all work well together.

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good

A comprehensive induction programme, and planned regular supervision for new staff on a fortnightly basis supports this; however only records of monthly supervision could be found therefore a requirement has been made to address this shortfall. This does not appear to have had any impact on the quality of care or safeguarding of young people.

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good

Established staff have a formal supervision programme which is active and takes place with consistency, every month culminating with an annual appraisal. The supervision records shows that staff are aided to understand the impact they can have on young people. It also reflects the areas of responsibility within the home and the importance of professional development. Staff say that as well as formal supervision managers are always available to consult and discuss any issue with.

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good

The Registered Manager is aspirational for the young people, the staff and the home. She seeks to continually improve the levels of safety and care provided. Internal and external monitoring systems are in place but the information available from these processes is not utilised in the development plan for the home, or the views and wishes of the young people.

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good

A comprehensive training programme reflects the commitment of the wider organisation to staff development. Staff have regular refresher training of core skills, for example safeguarding on an annual basis. Managers closely monitor this. As a result staffs retain the skills which allow them to meet the ever changing and complex needs of the young people in their care.

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good

At the time of the inspection the Registered Manager was on leave, it is a particular strength of her leadership that in her absence the home was well managed by her deputy supported by the staff team and the area manager.

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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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