Children's Home run by Coventry City Council in Coventry

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 with complex needs have those needs met by experienced and skilled staff.  Young people participate in their care and express their choice and preferences.  The staff work well with other agencies, parents and carers to provide continuity between their home and their short breaks.  Young people look forward to having their short breaks at the home and the chance to see staff and peers again.  The home is a safe environment in which to stay and work. Young people are protected from harm.  The staff team has effective working relationships with other professional agencies, as well as with parents and carers.  The frequency of staff supervision is not in accordance with the home’s policy.  There are a number of aspects that require greater attention. The statement of purpose has not been sent to Ofsted and the service is not clear about children’s legal status and care planning responsibilities for children staying

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The children's home provision is good because:

at the home. Administrative improvements needed include: documentation of the duration of short breaks; the submissions of reviews of care reports; the quality of the location risk assessment, and the legal status 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

In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular reference to care planning according to designated legal status, the registered person must ensure children— (a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home. 30/11/2015

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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. The registered person must notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(b)) 30/11/2015

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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)) 30/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; namely a record in the form of a register of children. (Regulation 37 (2)(a)) 30/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must help the independent person to inspect the premises of the home and such of the home’s records (except for a child’s case records, unless the child and the child’s placing authority consent) as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(b)) 30/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to HMCI. (Regulation 44 (7)(a)) 30/11/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  The provider should maintain the Review of Premises assessment in accordance with the advice about the location assessment process, contained in: Children's homes regulation amendments 2014: Advice for children's homes providers on new duties under regulations that came in to effect in January and April 2014. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Information about this children's home

This children's home is owned and operated by a local authority. It provides a short- break service for up to four children or young people with learning and/or physical disabilities at any one time. It currently provides this service for 25 children and young people. Children and young people's visits do not exceed 75 days a year.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

04/03/2015 CH - Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

13/02/2014 CH - Interim Satisfactory progress

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good

The home provides a short break service for children and young people. The average stay at the home is for one week in every five weeks. Despite the relatively short time that children and young people stay at the home, they develop an appropriate sense of permanence and belonging. They enjoy consistency of good-quality care in a stable environment, from the personalised bedrooms they stay in, to the experienced staff team that cares for them.

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good

Children and young people are encouraged to shape their own care experience in weekly meetings, where they make choices about menu and activity preferences for the week of their stay. Staff support those children and young people who do not have speech to express their choices, using whatever communication method is most appropriate.

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good

Staff are responsive to preferences expressed by parents. A recent example concerned a parent’s objection to her child watching the video music channel, whilst at the home. The staff team respected this request and were keen to gauge the opinions of other parents and carers, in the form of a questionnaire.

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good

An independent visitor regularly visits the home and has contact with the young people staying at the time of his visit. His feedback to the manager is uniformly positive about the experiences of the children and young people.

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good

Staff help to maintain young people’s education arrangements while they stay at the home. Attendance levels at schools are excellent for all young people. This means that they are receiving the care and stimulation they require to develop intellectually.

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good

Young people make progress in their development and acquire skills and new experiences staff provide a range of social, educational, and recreational opportunities, both in and outside the home. Although the particular needs of children and young people often require complex preparation for activities, this does not hamper their access. Children and young people enjoy these occasions, which help to broaden their range of interests and experiences.

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good

Children and young people are helped to improve their health and to manage lifelong conditions. Staff ensure that medication is stored safely and administered appropriately. The food provided by catering staff is varied, nutritious and reflects the healthy choices that children and young people make for themselves. The routine of the day-to-day care arrangements contains many opportunities for physical exercise, as well as the requisite rest and leisure time. In these ways, young people develop healthy lifestyles and habits that are beneficial to them beyond the duration of their stay at the home.

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good

Young people look forward to coming to stay at the home. For many, it provides an opportunity to stay with a peer group carefully chosen by the manager, who is in regular contact with parents and carers about their child’s impending stay. Young people develop friendships with peers they see regularly and this gives them a sense of continuity and familiarity during their short break.

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good

The staff team demonstrates its commitment to offering a shared service to a diverse group of children, young people and families within the local community. They host a summer celebration event for service users and their families, along with members of the local community, who have raised funds for the home. The event offers an opportunity to celebrate the well-being and achievements of young people, whilst providing the chance for families to meet others in similar circumstances. Staff nominate young people for the council’s annual celebration of success event. These two annual events reflect the day-to-day care in the home, which recognises and celebrates young people’s achievements.

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good

Young people stay in a safe environment because of the actions staff take to support and protect them. Safety and the management of risk is paramount, from the matching process of placements to the risk assessing of activities. Staff members reinforce safety messages, including road safety and stranger danger. As a result, young people feel secure staying at the home.

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good

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted in the home. Staff members use effective de-escalation techniques that are specific to the needs of each young person. They provide safe and sensitive management of young people’s behaviour when they are unable to achieve this for themselves.

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good

The staff team is adept at understanding the needs of young people and are successful in anticipating when they communicate emotions through behaviour. This level of understanding has come about as a result, not only of the skills of the staff team, but also the time and effort they have invested in getting to know each young person’s behaviours, sensitivities and trigger points. This means the staff know and understand them well. Close supervision of young people’s access to information technology ensures that they are safe. The robust recruitment and vetting of new staff ensures that suitable adults care for young people. Checks on safety measures and equipment mean that the home is a safe place in which to stay and work. Young people are safe because of the protective care provided by the staff team.

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requires improvement

A permanent and suitably experienced registered manager has managed the home since June 2014. The home is properly staffed and resourced to meet the needs of the young people living there. Whilst the quality of the care provided is good, the quality of leadership requires improvement.

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requires improvement

Staff are not receiving support through supervision, in accordance with the home’s guidance. This means that staff are not formally able to reflect on their practice with the manager, or share their feelings about providing such intensive support to young people with profound needs, with a line manager who can offer support to them. Young people receive support from professionals who are not themselves adequately supported by leaders and managers.

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requires improvement

The home does not possess an official register of admissions, as required by regulations. The length of stays in young people’s files does not accord with a summary record produced from an electronic record.

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requires improvement

Not only are the durations of short break episodes unclear, but so too is the legal status of young people. Managers give conflicting accounts of the legal status of young people. This is symptomatic of a recent change by the provider not to designate some young people as accommodated under section 20 of the Children Act 1989. Procedural guidance to reflect this recent change is not available and the rationale for the differing legal statuses is unclear. Managers in the home do not understand the corporate rationale for such an approach, which does not yet have the status of official guidance.

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requires improvement

Despite the confusion around the technical categorisation of legal status, care plans reflect the day-to-day needs of young people. On considering her child’s latest care plan, one parent recognised her daughter from the description provided by staff in the home. This gave the mother great assurance that staff members knew her daughter well. ‘That was her they were describing’, she said. Parents and carers are confident leaving their young people at the home. Although reviews of the quality of the care in the home have been completed and emailed by the independent visitor, they were sent to the wrong email address and consequently have not been received by Ofsted in accordance with the regulations. Young people’s records do not contain the necessary authorisations to enable the independent visitor to inspect their case files. Care practice in the home does meet the ethos and principles as set out in the home’s latest Statement of Purpose, but

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requires improvement

revisions to this document have also not been sent to Ofsted.

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requires improvement

The annual location risk assessment is not fit for purpose. No evidence exists to show that the risks identified have been shared with partner agencies. The actions identified to mitigate the risks have not been assigned to anyone. The actions do not have a timescale to them, and the risks identified are not scored according to the calculation included in the assessment. As a result, it is not possible to know the grading of the risks identified.

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requires improvement

The various requirements arising from the previous inspection have been met in full. This has resulted in the introduction of a more robust behaviour management policy in relation to the measures of control, restraint and discipline which may be used. A newly-introduced electronic system provides better quality risk assessments. New staff members’ employment histories are thoroughly investigated and recorded clearly. Young people’s files now contain details of their review meetings, which allows staff access to important information, including the actions that were agreed. Notifications of significant incidents are sent to Ofsted in accordance with statutory requirements. The recommendation arising from the previous inspection concerns supervision records. For the reasons already stated, this recommendation is not met and has therefore been elevated to a requirement.

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requires improvement

Working relationships with other agencies are effective. The links with the Disabled Children’s Team are strengthened by its co-location with the home. One young person’s social worker said that, ‘staff are good at identifying risk’, and that the short breaks provided, ‘are a massive protective factor’ for the young person.

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requires improvement

Managers effectively challenge and escalate any concerns about partners or services to ensure that young people receive the support they need. They are staunch advocates for the young people in their care.

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requires improvement

Outreach support is provided for families. The routines and practices established in the home itself are being continued under the care of parents or carers, with guidance from staff in the home. This approach enhances the consistency of care for young people by setting and maintaining the high standards that are expected at home and in the short break setting.

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requires improvement

The home operates from single-storey, purpose-built 5 bedroomed accommodation in the heart of a city residential suburb. The home is clean, furnished and maintained to a high standard.

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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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