Children's Home run by Oracle Care Limited in Central Bedfordshire

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:

 A new manager and staff team bring a variety of experience to the home. They are enthusiastic about outcomes for young people, all of whom view the new staff positively.  All young people have 100% school attendance and gain educational achievements. Homework forms part of the daily routine in this provision.  Safe relationships and social experiences are promoted by attendance and engagement in community activities and groups.  Each young person undertakes a life skill activity every day; this promotes and builds foundations for independent living.  From the point of moving into this home young people receive dedicated therapeutic intervention, which equips them to effect positive change.  Staff effectively safeguard young people, they identify and understand individual risk and approach it in a non-oppressive manner.  Staff support and facilitate positive family contact in the home and community.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Some shortfalls and areas for improvement were identified during the inspection. These include lack of consistent reflection of young people’s views and contribution in records, lack of workforce development plan, some aspects of the physical environment, lack of staff appraisal and continuity of staffing.

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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

13:The Leadership and Management Standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular regard to maintaining a consistent staff team, the registered person must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

(2) (e) the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. 11/12/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4) (c)) 11/12/2015

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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 children are encouraged to see the home's records as 'living documents' supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, Page 58 paragraph 11.19)

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Recommendations

Ensure that the home meets the young people's physical needs. This specifically relates to the physical presentation in some areas of the home. The registered person should recognise that many children in residential care have experienced environments where these needs have not been consistently met. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, Page 15 paragraph 3.7)

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Recommendations

Ensure that staff familiar with the home's policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 62 paragraph 14.4) Ensure that there is a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 53 paragraph 10.8)

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Information about this children's home

The home provides accommodation and care for up to three young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. All young people can access the linked school provision. A private company owns and operates this setting.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

25/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

All young people in the home attend the linked school provision and have 100% attendance. Educational progress and attainment improves from the point of moving into this home. Staff engage all of the young people in regular homework and two young people are scheduled to sit formal exams this academic year. They already have a pass mark for the coursework element of their course. All of the young people share a sense of achievement and staff encourage aspirations. One young person would like to be a police officer. One young person said: ‘I am studying world war poetry, I am really enjoying it. Later, me and the staff are going to look on the computer and find some more.’

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Good

All young people have access to core health services. They are involved in meal planning and preparation and staff support them to learn about healthy lifestyle choices. Daily routines include a life skills activity, which is discussed with the young person and staff. There are a wide range of activities, which offer preparation for independence.

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Good

All staff engage in a broad training program, they use this to underpin their practice with a strong theoretical base. This enables them to attune to young people and work in a young person focused way. Direct therapeutic intervention provides the opportunity for young people to understand their traumatic experiences. As a result, they begin to make sense of their own behaviours and their emotional wellbeing improves. Staff regularly consult with the in-house clinicians and utilise these sessions to inform their approach to working with the young people. As a result, each young person receives individualised care. A social worker said: ‘Their therapeutic approach is brilliant. They do really well. Joined up working between the school, home and families is particularly good.’

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Good

Individual and group activities continue to take place in the home and the community and all young people enjoy their choice of pastimes. Staff ensure these are undertaken safely. These activities offer young people the opportunity to socialise and form friendships away from the home. A member of staff has recently accompanied a young person on a four day holiday, which involved an assault course, this was a big achievement for the young person and he relays this experience with enthusiasm and satisfaction. Another young person said: ‘I did DJ’ing at youth club last night. It’s brilliant, I really enjoy it, it is so good!’

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Good

Staff use key work, young people’s meetings and informal discussion to seek young people’s views. All young people have established relationships with independent advocates and staff encourage young people to meet regularly with them. This ensures that young people have the opportunity to share their experiences and have their views represented for them.

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Good

Records of interaction between staff and young people do not consistently reflect young peoples’ wishes and feelings and their contribution and access to records is not consistent.

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Good

Staff effectively safeguard young people; risk is managed in conjunction with the young people, professionals and family members. Comprehensive risk assessments and open communication with external agencies ensure there is a robust approach to risk. A social worker said: ‘The staff know his risk areas and they respond to them, they keep him safe.’

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Good

Appropriate safeguards are in place for young people to enjoy access to social media as their peers do. Staff and young people discuss the use of the internet in key work sessions and young people are able to identify the risk that its use presents. Safe internet use means that young people are able to have contact with their friends and family who are not part of their daily lives. This reduces the likelihood of young people seeking out covert contact, which would place them inadvertently at risk.

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Good

There have been no incidents of missing from this home since the last inspection. Young people are supervised at all times in line with their care plans and if they were to be missing from the home, staff are knowledgeable of the local policies, procedures and actions they should take. Young people understand what staff would do if they were to be absent from the home without authorisation.

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Good

Contact between young people and their families is promoted in line with young people’s care plans. Staff arrange and facilitate contact, which means that young people are supported prior to, during and following contact. The staff share their assessments of contact with all professionals to inform contact planning. Where there are identified difficulties in familial relationships, the manager and staff support family members and young people to improve the quality of these relationships.

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Good

Since the last inspection, the young people have experienced a complete change in management and staffing of their home. Management, staff and young people have reflected on the recent experiences. They are slowly and methodically building relationships. One young person said: ‘The new staff are good, they seem to care.’

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Requires improvement

The home has had three managers since the last inspection. The new manager has been employed by the provider for six months, she has relevant experience and holds a level five qualification. She has made an application to become the registered manager. The manager, deputy manager and senior care practitioner form the foundations of a strong leadership team, which staff confirm is supportive and approachable. This provides young people with increased stability following extensive change.

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Requires improvement

The manager has addressed four of six shortfalls raised at the last inspection. A plan of improvement works has commenced in the home managed sensitively to minimise the impact on young people. Young people have chosen new décor and furniture for their bedrooms and are beginning to feel proud of their home. Some areas are yet to be improved and young people will experience a greater feeling of investment in their home once these are complete. All staff receive regular good quality supervision in line with the home’s policy. There is consistent management oversight of all records and where the manager identifies issues, they are discussed in regular team meetings and supervision. Due to the changes in the home and transfer of staff, not all staff have had an annual appraisal. This means there has not been a comprehensive review of their practice or areas for development.

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Requires improvement

Six members of the new staff team have been recruited from within the wider organisation. This means know the majority of staff are known to young people. All young people are positive about the new manager and team and support is provided to help them make sense of the changes. Inevitably, exposure to the period of instability leaves the young people unsettled; the manager and staff acknowledge and appreciate this. One young person said: ‘I don’t like staff leaving, this is my home, did they ever really care?’

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Requires improvement

The manager and independent visitor monitor the provision and seek feedback from professionals, family members and young people. Information gained is used to inform change. There is no formal record of the manager seeking young people’s views, which limits her comprehension of how their views impact.

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Requires improvement

The home does not have a workforce development plan to act as a point of reference for staff and managers in respect of the home and their employment.

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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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