Children's Home run by Break Charity in Cambridgeshire

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 identify young people’s needs through assessments collated ahead of admission. These assessments are the basis of individual care plans, which help to provide good quality individualised care.  Young people have engaged with their education. For some, this is a return to formal education when they had previously not been able to attend. This helps them to achieve expected educational goals and to build relationships outside of the home.  Staff work in partnership with the local authority team. They focus their work on behaviour, which helps young people to gain insight into the issues that affect them.  Staff are alert to safeguarding processes to protect young people. Young people have positive and open relationships with staff, allowing them to feel confident about disclosing any concerns they may have.  Staff support young people to practice self-help skills, such as cooking and laundry. This helps to build young people’s confidence.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people do not go missing from the home. There are good protocols in place that staff directly identify they would follow should a young person go missing. Staff are acutely aware of the risks of exploitation that young people face should they go missing from home.  There is a good working relationship between the registered manager and placing authorities, who are confident that the home is able to meet the needs of the young people.  The manager has a monthly recording process to focus on the progress that young people make. As a result, he is able to feed back to placing authorities about how the intervention is improving the outcomes for the young people.

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children or young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. A registered charity owns and runs this home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

13/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people are making good progress because they live in this home. Staff have identified young people’s needs during thorough assessments, collated ahead of admissions. These assessments are the basis of individual care plans, which the staff use daily. The care plans help identify the best approach to build rapport and trust with the young people. As a result, their relationships improve with staff. For example, one young person’s care plan identified activities such as cooking, cycling and swimming as pursuits that promote his leisure interests. Staff accompany him during these pastimes to encourage the development of skills in these areas. This has seen progress made within social skills and self-care abilities.

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Good

Staff support young people to engage with their education. For some, this has meant a return to formal education when they had previously not been able to attend. This helps them to achieve expected educational goals. Some young people are attending sixth form college, completing City and Guilds courses and national vocational qualifications. Attending college helps them to build relationships outside of the home. It also helps to build the independence skills required to manage the journey each day. One young person has enrolled in a catering course. The college comment: ‘The young person has settled in very well, he is polite and punctual and the tutors are very pleased with the progress he is making. He is up to date with work and is on target to achieve the qualification.’

p.5

Good

The provider works in partnership with the local authority team and their clinical psychologist. This helps the staff to understand aspects of the behaviour that some of the young people display. As a result, staff benefit from this support to focus their work, which in turn helps the young people to gain an insight into the issues that affect them. This has helped the young people to begin to move on from distressing and abusive relationships in the past and form healthier relationships with staff. Direct work takes place on a regular basis. Staff focus on specific areas of the care plan that need further work. They also take opportunities to raise topics as they arise. This provides the young people with opportunities to form trusting relationships with the staff.

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Good

Staff help young people to make and keep appointments with health professionals, such as, doctors, opticians and dentists, which will help to maintain their good health. The provider has a good relationship with the local authority designated nurse for looked after children. This helps to support and promote the health of those young people who are receiving regular medication. This support includes reviewing the prescribed medication dosages as well as monitoring height and weight.

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Good

The staff regularly meet with young people to discuss issues within the home, such as, relationships, décor and activities. Young people have requested trips to theme parks and other trips to the seaside. Staff arrange the trips to take place either as a group or individually. Some young people enjoyed a day trip to London’s West End to go to the theatre. This was a particularly positive trip as it coincided with some school project work that a young person was completing about the production.

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Good

Recently, a young person has moved to independent living. The pathway plan for this young person detailed and managed not only the practical skills required but also the emotional support needed to make this step successfully. Staff have remained in contact with the young person since their move; to provide a safe and familiar resource should they need it. Other young people are beginning to follow their individual pathway plans. Staff encourage them to practice self-help skills, such as cooking and laundry, building up to further skills in budget management. This practice helps to build young people’s confidence whilst still having the support in the home.

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Good

Staff have supported young people in building and promoting safe contact with their extended families. This includes providing guidance to families on managing aspects of the young people’s behaviour during contact. This has seen contact becoming more enjoyable for all members of the family, especially the young people. This contact helps to maintain the young people’s knowledge and understanding of their background.

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Good

Young people say that they feel safe in this home. They reflect on the positive relationships that they have with the staff. A young person commented: ‘I feel safe in the home because of the adults here. I get on well with my key worker, who spends a lot of one to one time talking about my family and contact.’ These nurturing relationships are intrinsic to the safe working practice in the home. Young people do not go missing from the home. Staff are acutely aware of the risks of exploitation that these young people face should they be missing from home. There are good protocols in place that staff directly identify they would follow should a young person go missing. The provider has a good working relationship with police, who commented: ‘Staff were very positive and sensible when managing a previously complex young person; they have a good working relationship with the police.’

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Good

Trained staff will physically intervene if young people are placing themselves or others at risk. The mandatory training helps staff to react proactively to engage young people and, as a result, there has not been any physical intervention since the previous inspection. Rewards, such as, more one to one time, or extra activities, promote good behaviour. Withdrawal of these activities is an outcome of conduct seen as unwanted or negative. Recently, some young people have earned more activity money and their behaviour has improved. Consequently, sanctions have reduced.

p.7

Good

Staff are engaged in re-evaluating risk assessments as behaviour improves or changes. As a result, some young people have more free time in the community. Others are encouraged to use public transport to and from college. Direct work has taken place to support young people to understand the risks that may be present and to build confidence in reporting any concerns.

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Good

Staff are particularly alert to safeguarding processes for young people. For example, one young person made an allegation regarding an inappropriate approach from a member of the public. The relationship that the young person has with staff is positive and open, which allowed them to feel confident about disclosing this incident. The staff supported the young person in contacting the police and making a statement. This protected the young person from further inappropriate approaches and in a successful conviction.

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Good

The impact and effectiveness of leaders and managers

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Good

The registered manager has been in post since 2011 and has a Children’s Care, Learning and Development Level Three National Vocational Qualification and Leadership and Management Level Four National Vocational Qualification. He skilfully leads the team to develop good quality relationships between staff and the young people. There is regular good quality supervision, which questions and motivates staff to provide the level of support that these young people need. As a result, staff are reflective in their approach to the young people.

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Good

The registered manager has a good working relationship with placing authorities. He is confident that the home is able to meet the needs of the young people referred to the home. One social worker commented: ‘I am impressed with the work that the home has done, particularly how the staff have built up relationships with a complex young person.’ The manager has challenged the local authority when there have been numerous changes in social workers for a particular young person. He has requested an advocacy service locally, to provide external support and advice on a specific issue where the services provided were not effectively meeting the young person’s needs. Staff report that their training is helpful and focuses on relevant aspects of their work. For instance, the training on cyber bullying was particularly useful as it covered online grooming and the impact on young people. Consequently, staff with

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Good

relevant skills are caring for young people. The registered manager and his deputy work alongside the staff, which helps them to act as mentors to staff. They role model good practice and this helps them to monitor the ongoing work with the staff. There are regular team meetings, during which discussions about the needs of the young people take place and their progress is monitored. The manager uses these meetings to keep the staff group informed about any changes within the home. For example, he recently led a discussion looking at the quality standards. As a result, the staff group were able to develop a good understanding of how the service provided in the home meets these standards. The manager has developed a monthly recording process, which helps him to focus on the progress that young people make. This enables him to provide feedback to the placing authorities about how the intervention is improving the outcomes for

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Good

young people. He is reviewing this to include tracking the progress made from the point of admission across a range of criteria. This monitoring, alongside the external monitoring the independent visitor completes, helps the manager to ensure that the practice of the home is in line with the statement of purpose. As a result, he has a good understanding of the areas that the home needs to develop, as well as the strengths within the staff team.

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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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