Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Milton Keynes

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:

 Young people receive good levels of support from a child-centred staff team. Staff work consistently with the therapy team and a range of external professionals to ensure young people’s safety is paramount.  Young people are making good progress as a result of their placements. They are settled, have formed good relationships with staff and are becoming increasingly involved in various forms of therapy.  Views of the young people are central to how the home operates. Staff listen to young people, they influence how the home is run. A culture of openness provides opportunities for young people to raise grumbles and/or formal complaints. Staff are very aware of the risks young people present and have risk reduction plans in place. This has resulted in a decline in risk taking behaviours.  The staff team provide a good level of well-planned and highly individualised care through the implementation of comprehensive

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The children's home provision is good because:

placement plans and risks assessments; young people are central in all decisions made.  Young people say they feel safe and are safeguarded from harm, as far as is possible, and unsafe behaviours are challenged appropriately.

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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

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person is required to ensure:

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Requirement Due date

‘12(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. This specifically relates ensuring the actions from fire risk assessments and urgent maintenance requests are implemented.’ 5/10/2015

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Requirement Due date

13 The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person is required to:

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Requirement Due date

‘1(2)(c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. This specifically relates to ensuring staff undertake appropriate training in first aid and facilitating supervised contact.’ 5/10/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1, in particular ensure it is individual to the children’s home.

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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

  Ensure staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. This specifically relates to risk assessing staffing levels. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 Ensure any actions set out in statutory reviews are shared with the staff team. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 57, paragraph 11.10)

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Information about this children's home

This children's home is registered to take up to four young people with emotional or behaviour difficulties. The home is one of a group of homes owned and operated by a private organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

03/03/2015 Interim Sustained Effectiveness

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good

Young people benefit from the quality of the relationships they are developing with the members of staff working with them. Positive role modelling by staff has helped young people to improve their social skills and contributed to raising their self-esteem. As a result, young people are beginning to develop positive relationships with each other.

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good

Young people are confident in speaking out about day-to-day living matters within the home and the wider organisation. A culture of openness provides opportunities for young people to raise grumbles or formal complaints. All forms of complaints are taken very seriously. Young people’s meetings take place regularly, giving the young people the opportunity to express their views on the running of the home. For example, they discuss sanctions and consider if they are appropriate. Young people are given a range of opportunities to express their feelings; these include individual key work sessions and as a group when having an evening meal. This involvement contributes to a very open and inclusive environment.

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good

Young people progress well and they have all made considerable progress, given their starting point upon arrival at the home. They achieve this as they engage and make use of the therapeutic support offered. Through this input, young people gain a clear understanding of themselves and address their behaviours. They use new skills and, through open discussions and support, are able to put protective measures in place. For some young people a dramatic turnaround has been seen; these young people no longer go missing and self-harming has reduced significantly. For others progress is sometimes slow and erratic. Support from the members of staff enables them to develop an understanding of their past and to reflect upon their choices and behaviour.

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good

Most young people engage positively and achieve in education from varying starting points, with active support from a responsive staff team. They also support and enable young people to apply for further education placements, with a very good awareness of their potential, aspirations and interests. A minority do not consistently maintain good attendance, despite staff encouragement and guidance. Staff are constantly looking at alternative provisions and opportunities for these young people. Staff have developed education plans that identify actions and strategies to engage young people, using information from multi-professional meetings.

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good

Young people receive sound support to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. The home has developed relationships with health professionals and seek appropriate advice should the need arise. When young people are identified as having a specific health need, support plans are implemented. However, one recent admission has resulted in the need for staff to be particularly vigilant and respond with emergency first aid if required. Not all staff have received up to date first aid training; during the inspection there was not a qualified first aider on shift. The manager took prompt action to address this.

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good

Staff support young people with contact arrangements and young people benefit from being able to maintain appropriate contact with family, friends and other people who are important to them. Individual contact arrangements are suitably supported and facilitated by staff. Young people confirm that they understand the contact plans and arrangements that are in place. Placing authorities report on the flexibility of the home in providing these arrangements. Staff have been asked to supervise some contact and they have not had the appropriate training in this area. They are not provided with the skills to ensure these visits are facilitated appropriately and safely.

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good

The staff team have an awareness of the need for careful and individualised transition planning. The manager has appropriate oversight of referrals to the home and gains the necessary information prior to placement. This gives staff an insight into the support needs of each young person. Young people receive positive care, which promotes their independence. They engage in practical skills such as cooking, washing and budgeting to prepare them for later life. Staff make sure young people are well prepared and confident about their future plans. This helps them to make important choices and move successfully on from the home. Young people generally report they are well supported to prepare to live independently.

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good

The relationships young people are developing with the staff mean they feel able to talk to staff should they feel worried or upset. This has resulted in a decline in risk taking behaviours. Staff receive regular training on safeguarding and demonstrate a good understanding and knowledge of safeguarding matters. They give young people opportunities to discuss ways to keep themselves safe. There is a culture of openness in the home that allows for discussion around bullying and staff work with young people to address and resolve any instances.

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good

There are some instances of young people being reported missing. There are effective procedures for responding to incidents when this occurs. Staff’s careful observations of young people’s behaviours and knowledge of triggers help them to intervene at an early stage to prevent incidents escalating. Incidents of missing have reduced significantly for some young people. One young person commented, ’I no longer go missing, it’s because staff have helped me learn how to keep myself safe.’

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good

Young people know the consequences of risk-taking behaviours and how this impacts on their safety. Some young people in placement do present with known risks in relation to child sexual exploitation and self-harm. Managers review responses regularly and adapt care planning; young people are fully involved in this process. Staff are persistent in supporting young people to keep safe and work collaboratively with external professionals. This includes drug and substance misuse workers, the local child sexual exploitation team and the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service to encourage young people to reflect on the impact their behaviour has on themselves and others. Feedback from a professional included, ‘I saw lots of progress with the young person, she did remarkably well during the programme and she is no longer taking drugs or alcohol. I had really positive relationships with the home.’ In addition, the

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good

company’s therapy team attends team meeting to enable staff to have an insight into why young people may behave as they do – this provides a network of support to both the young people and the staff team.

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good

Staff work jointly with young people to enable them to gain an insight into their behaviour and to support them in making changes. Behaviour management in the home has been reviewed with a focus on the effectiveness of consequences. Young people now have various opportunities to be involved in this process. There is an increasing emphasis on restorative justice, with a decrease in the use of financial reparation. This is enabling young people to take ownership and have a sense of personal responsibility. All members of staff are trained in the method of restraint used by the organisation which runs the home. Emphasis is placed on de- escalation techniques and the development of positive relationships and mutual respect. As a result of this approach there is limited use of physical intervention by staff.

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good

Allegations or suspicions of harm are promptly and appropriately shared with external safeguarding agencies. Staff attend relevant professionals meetings and share appropriate information about young people's well-being. This demonstrates effective partnership working.

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good

There is a robust recruitment process in place and this includes careful selection and vetting of staff working with the young people in the home. Routine safety checks, including fire safety are carried out and clearly evidenced. There are some urgent maintenance requests that have not been actioned by the organisation. Requests have been made by the home but they are still awaiting dates for this work to be undertaken. Repairs are required in the bathroom, which pose health and safety risks, and minor actions made following completion of the homes fire risk assessment, which was undertaken in April 2015, have yet to be addressed. Young people and staff are not fully protected by the organisation’s arrangements for health and safety.

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good

Over the last year, the home has focused on building a new and consistent staff team. The management team have conveyed a child-centred approach and this has begun to be evidenced in practice. Since the last inspection, the manager has successfully registered with Ofsted. The manager has been in post since March 2015 and is currently undertaking a relevant level 5 qualification. The staff team has undergone a period of change and challenges in the last year. This has resulted in some staff leaving and new staff joining the organisation. The management have worked hard to build confidence within the staff team and are continuing to identify and develop practice and processes.

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good

The management team clearly prioritise the young people’s needs, and respond promptly to any concerns. They are very clear on the progress young people have made and young people themselves have reflected on this through direct work undertaken with the senior team. There are clear development plans in place and managers are aware of the strengths and weaknesses in the home. The manager has reviewed staff appraisal systems since the last inspection. Appraisals now include targets so as to further develop individual staff and enhance the skill base of the team.

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good

Currently, the home’s statement of purpose reflects the therapeutic aims and objectives of the organisation and not the individual children’s home. In addition, it does not contain all the necessary information required in regulations. This does not enable placing authorities and carers to be clear about what the home sets out to provide.

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good

Staff are enthusiastic and committed to the young people in their care. They have formed good relationships with young people and speak positively about them. Staff numbers, their level of experience, and the support provided to them, are such that the staff sufficiently meet the needs of the young people. However, there were some recent challenges and staffing levels were not risk assessed; this places staff and young people in a vulnerable position. There is not a contingency plan in place nor regular risk assessment to ascertain if staffing levels are sufficient. Staff report that they are very well supported by the manager and deputy manager. Staff undertake regular training which provides them with the competencies necessary to fulfil their role. There are some shortfalls identified in training provided for staff, this is reported on in the progress and experience judgement.

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good

Records are clear, up to date and provide a good picture of a young person's stay in the home. This ensures that an accurate history of events is recorded for them, should they wish to look at these records in the future. Recent statutory review minutes have been chased. However, when there has been a delay in receiving these the actions made at the meeting have not been documented. This does not enable staff to be able to be clear on the decisions made and the necessary support young people should be receiving.

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good

Young people benefit from highly effective working relationships between staff, parents and professionals from a range of other agencies. This includes consultants, the local authority designated officer, social workers and a range of specialist workers. Information is shared with staff to ensure they have the appropriate information to effectively support the young people’s complex needs.

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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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