Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Bedford

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 have individualised holistic care plans.  An able and experienced manager leads a full and stable team of staff by example.  A highly qualified and enthusiastic staff group work hard to motivate and engage young people.  The home is spacious and comfortable and mostly decorated and furnished to a very high standard.  Positive behaviour and engagement with education is recognised through a system of incentive and reward.  High quality education provision is available on site for young people not attending a formal school setting.  Staff and young people have the benefit of therapeutic support and oversight at all times.  Young people have the opportunity to access a wide range of activities and hobbies.  Young people do sometimes go missing but staff respond in a proactive and coordinated way to achieve earliest safe return.  Restraint is used rarely and as a last resort.  The inspection identified some shortfalls and areas for improvement,

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The children's home provision is good because:

including recording young people’s progress, inconsistent access to education for some young people and some damage to parts of the 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):  Ensure the children’s home provides a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the young people. In particular, ensure the bedrooms and gardens are maintained to a good standard. (The guide to the Quality Standards, page 15 paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

Ensure that staff recognise and celebrate the achievements of children, with clear records made in order to better evidence progress. (The guide to the Quality Standards, page 31 paragraph 6.7)

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Recommendations

Ensure that staff make every effort to encourage and support young people to maintain routines that ensure they are able to engage with independent study. (The guide to the Quality Standards, page 29 paragraph 5.18)

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Information about this children's home

This home is privately owned and accommodates up to four young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Good

Young people have holistic care plans catered to their specific needs, including therapeutic and educational input from in-house experts. Many young people have experienced traumatic life experiences, which continue to impact on them. As such, behaviours are often challenging and ingrained. Work undertaken with young people enables them to make progress, encouraging and rewarding positive behaviour and engagement with education. Staff give examples of young people who have moved on in a planned way to semi-independent living or to return to extended family. One social worker said: ‘He definitely made progress in many areas, particularly education. He passed exams, which made a real difference to his confidence and self-esteem; staff put such a lot of effort into working with him. I would say that they are a model of good practice.’

p.6

Good

Staff work hard to build positive relationships with young people, providing good and consistent role models. They are passionate about making a difference and endeavour to offer young people the opportunity to aspire and achieve. Relationships are relaxed but respectful. One young person said: ‘The best thing about living here is the staff and the support they give me.’

p.6

Good

Young people either attend a separate education setting or have a syllabus designed to meet their specific needs within the home. The organisation employs a headteacher and several teachers, who endeavour to offer each young person education provision that will both interest and inspire them. Young people have passed examinations and achieved educational and vocational qualifications, in some cases leading to employment and college courses. Currently, two young people who have not been in school for many years are working towards a BTEC in physical education. Despite staff efforts, young people do not always take part in all of the education opportunities provided to them. The school day routine, within the home, is not yet firmly established.

p.6

Good

Staff give young people the opportunity to acquire knowledge to assist them to make good health choices around tobacco, alcohol and drug use.

p.6

Good

Young people have their own weekly activity based programmes, which include a range of individual and group events designed to teach new skills and build self- esteem. They are encouraged to develop and follow specific interests. For example, regular music sessions take place within the home. One young person is finding a way of expressing himself in a positive as opposed to an anti-social way, through music. Staff work hard with young people in key working sessions to prepare them for independent living. There is a comprehensive work scheme used within the home, which covers all relevant skills and advice needed.

p.6

Good

The home environment is generally good. The house is large and furnished and decorated to a high standard. Young people are encouraged to contribute ideas to how rooms look and the use of different areas of the home. Some areas of the home, however, require minor repair and attention. A young person’s bed appeared damaged and there were two broken windows in a building in the grounds.

p.7

Good

Each young person has a detailed risk assessment focusing on specific issues of concern, grading them in terms of whether low, medium or high risk. Staff produce an action plan detailing strategies to manage and reduce opportunity of risk situations occurring. Direct work with young people to educate and inform is also undertaken. Staff update young people’s electronic files following all incidents of concern and review and amend assessments regularly as a matter of course. Current concerns are flagged at each handover meeting and plans are made to manage and reduce immediate and potential risks. All young people have a separate sexual exploitation risk assessment form identifying those most vulnerable and at risk of exploitation.

p.7

Good

Staff are alert, knowledgeable and well informed about child sexual exploitation and as such were recently able to identify a situation where a young person was at specific risk. Staff worked in partnership with safeguarding professionals and police colleagues to investigate the matter. As a consequence, extra vigilant staff were able to put in place additional safeguards to better ensure the young person’s safety and well-being.

p.7

Good

Young people do go missing from this home. Staff are able to evidence that incidents generally decrease for young people living here. Staff work well with the local missing person’s panel who describe them as ‘very proactive’ in their response to young people who are missing. Staff make concerted efforts to contact young people throughout periods away from the home and have invested time and energy in ensuring safe returns. Young people are always welcomed back and staff arrange return to care interviews with an independent person. A social worker who placed a young person who went missing on a regular basis said: ‘I have nothing but good to say about this. I don’t believe there was anything more they could have done to prevent him from going missing.’

p.7

Good

The manager and staff have worked hard to implement and embed a robust behaviour management plan in to the day to day running of the home. The system uses positive reinforcement of preferred behaviours and engagement with education. Young people have the opportunity to accumulate tokens to earn specified amounts of money. Young people understand the system in place and mostly adhere to expected standards of behaviour accordingly. They are recognised and rewarded for doing so and take pride in achieving targets and benefiting from incentives offered. One young person was very proud to say that he was shortly to move up to the highest level of achievement. As a consequence, staff rarely need to use additional sanctions.

p.8

Good

Staff use physical restraint rarely and as a last resort on occasions where there are concerns that a young person’s behaviour will result in injury to themselves or others. Staff record each incident in detail, which the manager then checks to ensure the response was proportionate and appropriate. Patterns of behaviour are tracked and consideration given to triggers for negative incidents.

p.8

Good

The registered manager has been in post since 2010 and has the NVQ Registered Manager’s award and is working towards the level five qualification and a master’s qualification in cognitive behavioural therapy.

p.8

Good

Managers and staff share a passion and a commitment to working with young people, with the aim of empowering and equipping them to achieve and succeed. There is an understanding that young people in care have often been through traumatic experiences that may impact on their ability to fulfil their potential. Their belief is that young people can use transferable skills, developed through enduring hardship, to positive effect. They work hard to offer young people opportunities and strategies that will maximise their chances of leading a full and successful life.

p.8

Good

Staff are well trained and highly qualified. Managers have made a concerted effort to recruit a diverse group of staff across gender, age, ethnicity and life experience. Young people are involved in the recruitment of staff as a matter of course and take part in the interviewing and selection process. A detailed induction programme is in place, enabling new staff to undertake basic, essential training before being included into the staff rota. Formal supervision is scheduled on a monthly basis and is of a high standard. Staff also benefit from therapeutic supervision and consultation from an in-house psychotherapist. Standard and therapeutic team meetings, with education input, take place regularly. This enables and assists the team to offer a holistic response to young people’s needs.

p.8

Good

Social workers report that staff and managers regularly communicate with them and offer weekly care planning updates on individual young people. They say that staff attend meetings, reviews and panels in order to share information and advocate on behalf of young people.

p.9

Good

The registered manager and staff actively challenge when they are not satisfied that responses from other services are in young people’s best interests. The manager was able to share examples of appropriate challenge to a local authority and to a young person’s school, resulting in improved outcomes for young people.

p.9

Good

The manager is aware of, and speaks proudly about the strengths of the home. He is also able to consider that there is room for improvement in other areas. For example, staff and social workers are able to give examples of young people who have made significant progress whilst living in the home. Staff do not, however, consistently record this in enough detail against aims and objectives set. This impacts on the evidence available to demonstrate the difference the service makes to young people.

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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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