Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in SurreyOfsted inspection, 30 Nov 2015

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:

 The home continues to provide good quality care to young people with good  progress being made from all young people’s starting point.  Staff have good knowledge and insight into young people’s needs.  A stable experienced staff team have interest in the young people in their care  which enables positive relationships to be formed and delivers positive outcomes.  All young people are engaged in education and training, and the home liaises effectively with education providers.  Health plans detail basic physical and emotional needs ensuring all are  addressed. Plans are detailed with needs, routines and strategies used easily identifiable.  Episodes of missing are well coordinated and managed with young people being  welcomed back. The systems in place to provide return to care  interviews is robust and effective.  Individual plans are evaluated and reviewed monthly exploring needs and  outcomes with an overview being provided of young people’s achievements

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The children's home provision is good because:

 and the areas needing more support.  Sanctions are rarely used with staff preferring to use a restorative approach with  young people.  Leaders and managers provide outstanding leadership enabling staff to achieve  their full potential.  Managers are applying the most up to date research while supporting staff to  incorporate it into their daily practice.  Purposeful evaluation of the quality of care underpins the robust management approach within the home.

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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 protection of children standard the registered provider must ensure:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child form avoidable hazards to the child's health. 01/01/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home's care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided; specifically ensure young people’s views are sought within all aspects of review and planning. ( The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 22 paragraph 4.11)

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Information about this children's home

 The home is registered for up to 2 children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties (EBD).  The home is local authority owned and managed.  The home provides care for short to medium term placements.  The home is located in the centre of a town within easy access of local services and resources.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

02/09/2015 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

29/07/2014 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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good

Young people continue to make good progress from their individual starting points with improvements impacting positively on future opportunities.

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good

Young people report feeling safe and secure in the home and being able to address aspects they find challenging. They share their views about the home and have input in to the daily planning of menus and activities. Staff provide menus which meet all young people’s preferences and cultural needs.

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good

Relationships with staff are positive with young people seeking support and guidance from key staff that they trust and confide in. Relationships between young people and link workers are particularly enabling and positive. Staff provide physical reassurance to young people when needed through hugs and appropriate touch.

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good

Staff support young people adhering to robust health plans; they attend medical appointments and maintain their basic physical health. Young people are also supported in their emotional well-being with specialist services being accessed when required.

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good

All young people are engaged in education with staff providing support to sustain this and review plans when required to ensure need continues to be met. Further education is encouraged and promoted by staff who support young people to attend and engage in college and work experience opportunities.

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good

Young people’s views and feelings are not routinely gathered and this is evident in young people’s plans, reviews and reports written about the young people; managers intend to develop this. The young person’s voice is present in some aspects but as yet this is not consistent throughout.

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good

Link worker sessions which explore targets, risky behaviours and which new skills to develop are not recorded currently and so limit evaluation of all the work staff do with young people.

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good

Contact with family and friends is promoted and supported by staff, who facilitate contact within the constraints of plans. Staff request review of these when required.

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good

Robust pre-admission assessments have been implemented for the most recent admissions. This has enabled staff to admit young people in to the home in a planned way with clear plans to address need in place.

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good

A varied programme of activities is available to young people with holidays and exciting day trips being planned. There are links with local community clubs and services which are frequently accessed.

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good

Young people report feeling safe with all having someone they trust and will confide in if they require support and assistance. Incidents are well reported and recorded with assessments and behaviour management plans in place for young people. Physical intervention has been avoided with staff using alternative strategies and techniques to de-escalate situations. All staff have been trained in the homes preferred behaviour management strategy and approach. When physical intervention has been used, reflection and evaluation is present. Physical intervention has been implemented using the lowest level of intervention for the shortest time frame. The manager has identified that staff utilise ‘breakaway techniques’ but do not consistently record this and so he has a plan in place to address this.

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good

Episodes of missing are well managed with clear plans in place, and staff taking an active approach in locating young people and providing support when they return home. Staff from another service complete return to care interviews. Agencies have been involved in developing plans which provide a robust multi-agency approach. Levels of missing have reduced for one young person which has been positive.

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good

Staff have completed child sexual exploitation risk assessments which have identified that currently young people have a lower level of risk than previously identified on admission to the home.

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good

Safeguarding concerns and allegations about staff have been appropriately explored and investigated with referral to others when needed. Policy and procedures are in place and staff have good knowledge of these.

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good

Young people know how to make a complaint with the use of complaint forms and being able to verbally raise issues and worries. These have been acted on and investigated with young people given feedback when investigated.

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good

Chemicals and substances for cleaning have not been stored behind locked doors as the homes policy prescribes.

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good

Legionella risk management plan is in place but evidence to show it is followed was only sought as a consequence of this inspection.

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outstanding

The home is well managed by an inspirational confident manager who is experienced and appropriately qualified. He is ambitious and positive about the young people in his care and enjoys good relationships with young people present.

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outstanding

Care plans and strategies applied are child focused and staff use a nurturing approach with young people. Care plans and recording reflects the young people and their lives at the home. These are regularly shared with young people to ensure they have agreed goals and targets in place.

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outstanding

He has supported the staff team to apply up-to-date research and practice methods in the home with oversight to ensure all follow the ethos. The restorative approach is frequently applied in all aspects of intervention with young people providing varied solutions for managing conflict and challenge.

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outstanding

The daily, weekly and monthly monitoring and evaluation systems provide clarity regarding the strengths and weaknesses of the home.

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outstanding

Staff receive regular effective supervision which is recorded as per the homes policy with members of staff having their performance appraised annually.

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outstanding

Training opportunities available offer a varied programme of education and development for staff. Managers ensure knowledge is current and up to date with the most recent research and practice guidelines.

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outstanding

Weekly staff meetings allow an opportunity for reflective practice and for staff to ensure a consistent approach is applied to management strategies and interventions in the home.

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outstanding

Robust relationships with other agencies and organisations ensure need is addressed and reviewed regularly with a positive impact on care plans.

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outstanding

Relationships with the local community have been nurtured to provide reassurance to others and support young people to feel safe when accessing the local area.

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outstanding

There is currently one vacancy in the staff team with plans in place to address. The statement of purpose reflects the home and the care provided, with regular review and update. The young person’s guide has recently been amended and updated.

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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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