Children's Home run by BREAK in Norfolk

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 and managers know the young people well, including their strengths and needs. This helps them to meet those needs well.  Staff show that they care about young people. They are at the centre of the manager’s and staff’s practice. This helps young people to develop positive self-esteem and improves their emotional wellbeing.  Managers and staff have been at the home for a long time and consistent bank staff are used. Consequently, young people can develop secure attachments to the adults caring for them.  Young people have stable placements and planned moves.  Staff listen to young people’s views and take account of them, so that they can be influential in their daily lives and in making decisions about their care.  Staff do not take a punitive approach to behaviour management. They help young people to understand the implications of their behaviour with a very low use of sanctions. This is working, so that young people’s behaviour

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The children's home provision is good because:

improves and they develop a sense of empathy.  Staff provide practical and emotional support for young people to help them prepare for adulthood and to cope with the transition from education to employment.  Staff support young people through their planned moves into and out of the home. Such moves can be very worrying for young people and the support of staff helps to reduce this.  The knowledge that staff and managers have of young people helps the young people to understand areas of risk and to change their behaviour to reduce the levels of risk.  Staff help young people to develop an understanding of those who are different to them. They do this through discussion and challenging inappropriate views and comments.  Some records, such as those for some medicines and of one allegation are not sufficiently clear. These had not been identified and addressed through monitoring.  The Statement of Purpose has been reviewed, but updated copies have not

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The children's home provision is good because:

been sent to Ofsted or put on the home’s website.

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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 (“case records”) for each child which include details of any medicines which the child is permitted to self-administer and the administration of any medicine to the child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)) 09/10/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect provides for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34 (2)(d)) 16/10/2015

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Requirement Due date

13. The leadership and management standard: In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered provider must: (2)(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home 16/10/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the statement of purpose to HMCI and ensure that a copy of the statement of purpose is published on their website. This relates to ensuring that the versions available are the most recent and up to date ones. (Regulation 16 (2) (4)) 23/10/2015

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Information about this children's home

This children's home is registered to provide care and accommodation for four children who have learning disabilities, emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a registered charity.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

25/03/2015 CH - Interim Improved Effectiveness

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Good

Young people who live at this home make good progress because of the work that staff do, some make very good progress. Managers and staff know the young people well and understand their individual strengths and needs. The wellbeing of young people is central to the work and ethos of the staff team. A placing social worker commented that the staff have shown the young person unconditional love and support, and while the young person found this difficult to accept, over time they have realised that staff do really care about them. This will help young people to develop good attachments, positive self-esteem and emotional wellbeing. Social workers and others from outside the organisation have spoken about young people maturing and developing during their time at the home.

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Good

Young people make progress in their health and education, but for some there are peaks and troughs to their educational engagement and progress. Nevertheless young people do make progress from their starting points and one social worker spoke about the significant and continued efforts that staff make to get young people to attend the right educational provision. Some records of the medicines that young people are given and the arrangements for self-administration of medicines are not clear enough. They do not provide sufficient information for managers to be able to monitor effectively whether young people have had the medicines they should.

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Good

Staff listen to young people’s views and consider them, so that young people can have an influence over their daily lives and plans in areas such as contact with families, activities and the way their bedrooms are decorated. This helps young people to learn about decision making, to feel their views are important and to develop a sense of belonging in the home. Young people say that while they can at times give staff a difficult time, they feel that the home is good and that staff do care about them.

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Good

Staff encourage young people to learn independence skills and help them with their preparation for adulthood and transitions into work. For example, staff help young people to sort out issues such as their National Insurance. In addition to this they understand the difficulties young people face in moving from education into a work environment with the added demands and pressures this brings, particularly in the early stages. They help young people to cope so that they are more likely to manage the transition successfully. One young person is doing an apprenticeship in stable management. Staff and managers within the organisation have listened to her views and wishes and have helped her to buy a horse. They are helping her budget for the costs that this involves. This helps the young person to undertake her apprenticeship and understand about responsibility, commitment and budgeting. It is also a strong commitment from the home to her and her future.

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Good

Staff also prepare and support young people with moves into and out of the home. These can be very stressful times and good preparation and support make them more manageable for the young people.

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Good

Staff have good knowledge of individual young people and this helps them to be able to work with the young people to help keep them safe. There is a low level of young people being missing from care. Staff help young people to understand the concerns that are associated with being missing and how they can modify their behaviour so that risks are reduced, but they can still have experiences similar to other young people of the same age. Staff make a strong response to risks such as drug use. They work with other agencies to help young people understand the risks associated with this and the seriousness of the behaviour, including the legal consequences. This helps young people to become increasingly safe.

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Good

Young people’s behaviour improves because of the work staff do to help them understand the implications of that behaviour. Staff do not take a punitive approach to managing behaviour. There have not been any sanctions or restraints used since the previous inspection in March 2015. Staff encourage young people to make reparations for behaviour. They avoid criminalising young people, but do use a positive relationship with the local police to help young people understand the consequences of some of their behaviours. Social workers comment on the reduction of negative behaviour and how young people develop in their maturity and empathy. Staff take opportunities to have discussions with young people about issues such as homophobia and they challenge inappropriate views and comments. As a result, young people learn tolerance and to understand others who may be different to them.

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Good

There are systems in place to help make the home a safe place for young people to live in. For example, there are regular checks of fire safety equipment and fire drills so that staff and young people would know what to do if there was a fire. Young people speak positively about the home and staff. They feel confident that staff would listen to them and take action if they had a problem or wanted to make a complaint. Staff are trained in areas that help them to promote acceptable behaviour and to keep young people safe. This includes areas such as de- escalation and restraint, fire safety, child sexual exploitation and on-line safety. However, in one case when an allegation was made and retracted very shortly afterwards, records were unclear and did not show discussions and decision making. While this did not have a negative impact on young people on this occasion, a lack of clear record keeping does have the potential to complicate

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Good

There is a Registered Manager in post in this home. He has been in post for eight and a half years and has suitable qualifications and experience to undertake his role effectively. At the time of the inspection he had been on sick leave for a number of weeks. There were appropriate arrangements in place to manage the home in his absence. The deputy manager is also suitably qualified and experienced. There are sufficient staff to provide good care for young people. Staff enjoy working at the home and the majority of them have been at the home for significant periods of time. Two bank staff, who are appropriately trained, support them. This helps to provide stability and consistency for young people so that they can form secure attachments. Managers have a good knowledge of the young people, which helps them to ensure that their needs are met well. The needs and welfare of young people are at the centre of the practice of staff and managers.

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Good

Consequently, young people have stable placements at the home, sometimes for a number of years, make good progress and have planned moves to future placements.

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Good

Managers provide regular supervision for staff through which they look at staff practice and training needs. This helps managers to monitor the care of young people and helps staff to understand their role and work more effectively. There is a comprehensive training programme to provide staff with the knowledge and skills to look after young people well and to meet the aims set out in the Statement of Purpose. An external professional said that staff have the skills to work with young people, ‘they are patient and try hard’. Also that staff are ‘excellent’. The Statement of Purpose has been reviewed to ensure it is up to date, but copies of the most recently reviewed document have not been put on the home’s website or sent to Ofsted.

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Good

Managers and staff have very good relationships with other agencies and people who they can work with to ensure consistent and effective care of young people, for example social workers, the police, drugs workers and young people’s employers.

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Good

Managers undertake monitoring of the home and are in the process of reviewing the quality of care as required by the Children’s Homes Regulations 2015. However, this monitoring is not fully effective in identifying some shortfalls such as the medication and safeguarding records referred to in this report. Consequently, while managers do have an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home, this is not comprehensive and some shortfalls which have the potential to impact on the care of young people have not been identified and addressed. There are monthly reports for each young person and these do provide a good picture of the young person’s needs and progress for that period of time.

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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

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

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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