Children's Home run by Kent County Council in Kent

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:

 Leadership and management of the children’s home is robust. Staff are well qualified and experienced to meet the needs of the young people. They are motivated to help young people learn new skills; achievement certificates celebrates young people’s successes.  Young people are encouraged to make choices using a range of communication methods. For example, photographs help young people choose duvet covers and hallway decorations. Young people also chose playground equipment purchased from donations.  Stakeholders value the quality of the service. One Social Worker says ‘my young person loves going, he enjoys his time there’, another Social Worker reports ‘staff attend multi-agency meetings, communication between staff and myself is good’. A parent says ‘the staff are brilliant with my child’.  Staff ensure that they update young people’s care plans with parents before each stay. This means that staff have up to date information about

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The children's home provision is good because:

each young person. The personal evacuation plan for one young person needs updating and was very brief for another. Staff are aware of the home’s evacuation plan and have practice night time fire drills to ensure safe evacuation of young people.  The Registered Manager is committed to developing the service by learning from external monitoring and internal auditing, evaluation and analysis. However, the frequency of supervision for staff was not in line with the statement of purpose, this means that staff do not have formal opportunities to share information or reflect and evaluate on their practice.

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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

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must ensure that staff-

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Requirement Due date

(2) (a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose, specifically in relation to supervision. 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):

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Recommendations

ensure children’s plans form the basis of young people’s care, especially in relation to keeping all care plans, including personal evacuation plans up to date (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 55, paragraph 11.1).

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Information about this children's home

This is a local authority managed short break service for children and young people. The home caters for up to six children and young people with complex needs and those on the autistic spectrum.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

26/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Young people are cared for by staff who focus on their well-being and support them to make good progress. Staff celebrate when young people achieve their targets by displaying certificates in communal rooms for all to see. One young person’s target was to participate in preparing meals independently; he is now able to prepare a pizza, choose a topping, place it in the oven and serve. This demonstrates good progress for this young person.

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Good

Young people develop positive relationships with staff and each other. One young person said the home was ‘good’. A parent says ‘my child loves coming here, it’s like she is having a sleepover with her friends’. The home is well equipped and homely. Staff use photographs to help young people communicate their choices of items for the home such as duvet covers. This helps them to feel like they have a say in the running of the home and their views are valued.

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Good

Young people’s care plans are effective and holistic. Staff update care plans with young people’s parents before each stay; this ensures that staff are aware of any changes to young people’s needs. The ‘All About Me’ information at the front of young people’s files includes essential, easily accessible, and regularly updated information about young people’s care needs.

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Good

Specially trained staff care for young people with complex health needs. Staff have excellent relationships with health professionals and attend multi-professional meetings to ensure consistent care and the effective application of strategies. The Registered Manager advocated for a clear discharge plan and training to ensure safe care of a young person upon discharge from hospital.

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Good

Staff work closely with social workers and the multi-disciplinary team to ensure that young people have a successful transition to new placements. One young person who moved to a full time placement had visits and became familiar with the new staff prior to the move. Effective planning was recognised by the young person’s Social Worker who responded by saying ‘thank you for your support, which she has enjoyed, appreciated and will be missed by her’. A ‘good bye’ party with staff and peers celebrated the time the young person had spent at the home.

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Good

All young people are attending school and making good progress. Staff link with schools and attend multi-agency meeting to ensure consistent care across all settings. One young person, who, due to their health needs, missed periods of schooling has now made good progress in all areas. Another young person’s signing has improved.

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Good

Young people benefit from the facilities inside and outside of the home. The large, well-equipped garden includes a sand pit, trampoline, playground equipment and go karting track. The home’s resources include a fully functioning sensory room, safe soft play area and a computer room with games software. There is also a large screen and projector for film nights. Staff organise theme evenings. On the day of the inspection a Jamaican night including Jamaican food, decorations, music and limbo dancing was enjoyed by all. Young people are positively introduced to different cultures.

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Good

Staff are committed to listening to the wishes and feelings of the young people. Young people attend monthly children’s meetings where they are able to choose games to play on the home’s iPad, half term activities and discuss safe internet use. Individualised communication methods, including ‘talking mat’ and visualised ‘thought bubbles’ are used to gain young peoples’ views for their reviews. This means that the staff are more able to effectively respond to their needs. Listening to young people and giving them choice is a strength of this home.

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Good

Young people learn new skills at a pace appropriate for their age and ability, for example, they take part in household chores and learn to shop. Some young people are able to use fobs to give them access to safe areas of the home, this extra responsibility increases their self-esteem. Young people enjoy positive social relationships, which help them develop social skills. One Social Worker reports that ‘my child is more sociable as a result of her stays, this has been seen at home and school too’.

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Good

Young people are kept safe by a staff team who demonstrate a good knowledge of safeguarding practice. Safety plans are comprehensive and regularly updated. Safeguarding logs and body maps are summarised and monitored monthly to identify trends or emerging concerns. Records are kept regarding sharing of information to ensure transparency and professionalism.

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Good

An area of improvement required relates to personal evacuation plans, which are not all updated and lack management oversight by. A recent training week included a ‘mock’ night time evacuation; staff are clear about evacuation procedures. Medical information is clearly recorded and accessible to all staff to ensure young peoples’ safe care. A young person’s advanced care plan and seizure management plan, devised by a health professional, is carried with her at all times ensuring her safety. Medical errors rarely occur but they are thoroughly investigated, with lessons learnt and actions agreed to reduce the likelihood of mistakes being repeated.

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Good

Staff respond to the wide range of individual needs of the young people who use this home. They liaise closely with all professionals and carers involved with the young people’s care. Staff are in regular contact with parents, social workers, schools and other professionals. They attend care-planning meetings to enable collaborative working towards young people’s goals. A Social Worker comments ‘the staff work with in a multi-disciplinary way, they are able to manage his challenging behaviour, which has decreased since he has had more time here’.

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Good

Staff supervise young people according to their individual abilities and cognitive understanding. Young people do not have the opportunity to go missing due to the close surveillance of staff. However, staff are aware of the missing from home policy and procedures to follow. The child sexual exploitation policy has been updated in consultation with the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LCSB). Young people do not have unsupervised access to the internet; risks associated with using social media are addressed with young people at children’s meetings and reiterated during general discussions. Trainee police officers shadow shifts; this initiative is effective in forging positive relationships.

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Good

Physical interventions are used only when necessary to reduce the risk of harm. The Registered Manager closely monitors incidents. She evaluates and analyses incidents to ensure effective interventions are used to address challenging behaviours. Any learning is shared at weekly team meetings. This is effective in reducing incidents, a Social Worker reports about a young person, ‘her challenging behaviour has reduced; they are able to manage her well’. Judgement grade

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Good

A competent and suitably experienced Registered Manager leads the service. She has been registered since 2009.

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Good

The Registered Manager is committed to ensuring that the staff group can offer the best service possible to the young people in their care. Biannual training is of high quality and staff demonstrate an increased knowledge in a variety of areas including e-safety, safeguarding and fire safety.

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Good

The Registered Manager is dedicated to maximising the outcomes for the young people in place. She actively monitors the quality of care provided. However, supervision frequency does not reflect the organisation’s policy or the statement of purpose. The quality of recording of supervision is poor at times. The Registered Manager has addressed this issue with her supervisors.

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Good

The Registered Manager leads a strong, stable team. Staff describe the Registered Manager as approachable. A staff member reports that the Registered Manager is ‘supportive and will listen and is willing to help staff’. Team meetings constructively challenge staff and address sensitive issues; for example, a recent whistleblowing incident was discussed with transparency and the matter successfully resolved. A staff member reports that ‘we are a strong team that pull together under pressure’. Relief staff who are known to young people cover shortages in staffing. This means that young people are cared for by staff who know them well.

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Good

Young people devise questions for the Registered Manager to ask new applicants at interview. Successful applicants have a robust, three week induction period; the Registered Manager evaluates their competency before they are able to care for young people.

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Good

Inter-agency working is strong. The Registered Manager has established close and professional working relationships, such as with the local police. The location risk assessment includes crime statistics and a risk assessment, which informs staff about the risks that young people face in the area.

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Good

The Registered Manager is keen to manage a home that improves practice and is evaluative. She has a good understanding of the young people’s needs. Monitoring informs strengths and weaknesses of the home. The organisation has completed a development plan to improve the experiences of young people in their care.

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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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