Children's Home run by CareTech Community Services Limited in Staffordshire

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 are skilled in communicating with children and young people.  Staff and managers ensure that children and young people’s transitional arrangements are well-planned and supported.  The registered manager ensures child-centred decisions are made when considering new admissions, which promote the stability of the children and young people already living there.  Children and young people consistently make good progress from their starting point across all areas of their development. This is recognised by young people, parents, placing social workers and teachers. One teacher said,’ I am amazed at this children’s home – I have never seen such a positive change in a young person.’  Staff maximise children and young people’s independence. They have high expectations which promotes exceptional outcomes.  Staff promote children and young people’s individual identities effectively. One parent said,’ I visit my child a lot and I am always made to feel welcome and have

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The children's home provision is good because:

a cup of tea with staff.’  Staff support children and young people to become increasingly safe by consistently promoting positive behaviour. Staff support them in developing strategies to manage their behaviour more effectively.  There are small number of shortfalls. These include the use of electronic surveillance, ensuring children and young people have access to a telephone, complaints procedures and partnership working with the police.

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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

The registered person must ensure that the children are provided at all reasonable times with access to a telephone on which to make and receive calls in private which they may use without reference to persons working in the home. (Regulation 22(3)(a)) 05/02/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance. (Regulation 24(1)(b)) 05/02/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is made of any complaint, the action taken in response, and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39(3)) 05/02/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  The registered person must take into account the views of the police for responding to missing person's incidents. (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, April 2015, page 45, para 9.29)

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide care for six children with learning disabilities. The home forms part of a large social care company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

18/03/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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good

Children and young people benefit from living in a stable environment where they can develop positive relationships with a consistent staff team. Staff are skilled at communicating with them regardless of their means of communication. They spend time with children and young people and understand them. Consequently they are able to respond to their wishes and feelings and needs. Some children and young people are able to talk about what is difficult for them and others seek out staff appropriately for attention. Most children and young people attend school and are making good progress. Staff support their attendance at school and develop strong professional relationships with school staff. This promotes consistency between the home and school and hence outcomes for children and young people improve. Where young people are not engaging with school or college staff support them to access alternative educational provision which meets their needs. They work very effectively with

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good

tutors who attend the home to maximise young people’s educational opportunities. Staff ensure that children and young people are supported to improve their health. They work with a wide range of health professionals to promote children’s health and development such as physiotherapists, occupational therapists and specialist nurses. Staff are proactive in addressing difficulties. For example, where a young person was frightened about attending the dentist they worked with the dentist to gradually overcome their fears and they are now able to attend regularly and receive treatment. This represents considerable progress. Staff promote children and young people’s identities. Staff ensure that they provide highly individualised care for children and young people which reflects their needs and experiences. They are proactive in promoting contact between children and young people and their families where this is in their best interest. Families feel

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good

welcome and enjoy spending time with their child. However, staff fail to ensure that adequate resources are made available to enable children and young people to make and receive telephone calls without a member of staff. This does not promote their independence and privacy. Children and young people enjoy a wide range of recreational activities. Staff ensure that children and young people are able to engage in their individual interests within the community whether that be swimming, horse riding or shopping. Staff make good use of their delegated authority to take children and young people on trips and holidays including to Disneyland Paris. Children and young people develop their self-confidence as a result, as well as having fun. Children and young people make significant progress in developing their independence. All children and young people make progress from their starting points. For some this involves taking on self-care tasks such as washing and

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good

dressing themselves whereas for others they begin to go out alone to the shops. Their progress is recognised by all involved. For example, one young person commented ‘…the best thing is being able to be more independent and to go out into the community. I feel good that I am able to go out.’ A social worker also commented: ‘….my young person was unable to undertake any self-care tasks independently. Now he can pour a drink, he can sit and have a meal and he can go out for a walk without his wheelchair.’ Staff ensure that children and young people are welcomed sensitively. They ensure that they are well-prepared and work hard to make sure that all specific training, aids and adaptations are in place. This proactive planning creates successful placements. One parent said:’…his transition was rapid but everything that needed to be in place was….He has blossomed since his move, he has gained weight, can

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good

move around more and is taking part in activities.’ Staff are also skilled at ensuring positive endings for young people who move on to new placements. They support them to develop relationships with their new carers and visit them once they have settled into their new placement providing them with a sense of security.

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good

Children and young people feel safe. Some children and young people are able to say this, whereas others demonstrate this through their body language and sounds. They interact positively with staff and seek them out when they have a problem. Staff support children and young people to become increasingly safe. They use key working sessions and consistent positive reinforcement effectively so that children and young people develop alternative strategies to manage their behaviour. Staff are skilled in de-escalation techniques and, along with their detailed knowledge of children and young people, are able to re-direct or distract behaviours. They provide consistent boundaries and work effectively as a team to provide a secure environment. As a result, the frequency with which staff need to restrain children and young people decreases. When children and young people are restrained the incident is well recorded, with children and young people appropriately de-briefed,

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good

and reviewed by the registered manager. Staff learn quickly when children and young people are new to the home. They are skilled in understanding and responding to behaviour thus ensuring that appropriate boundaries are created and their needs met. A teacher said: ’since his move to the home he is happy, so confident and his behaviour has improved.’ Investigations into allegations of harm are shared with appropriate agencies. However, complaints are not always robustly recorded, investigated and responded to which represents lost opportunities for improving the quality of care provided. Children and young people do not go missing. Staff have a general understanding of how to respond if they should. Nevertheless, staff have not developed proactive relationships with the local police over the protection of children and young people. This includes the risks associated with missing from care. This extends to individual

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good

vulnerabilities and the risk of exploitation. This is particularly pertinent to those young people who are developing skills in accessing the community independently. Staff are carefully selected and vetted ensuring that unsuitable people are not recruited and have the opportunity to harm children and young people.

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good

The home is managed effectively by a permanent, suitably qualified and experienced registered manager. She has been in post for over a year and had already completed her level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. She ensures that the home is appropriately staffed by a stable staff team who receive regular supervision and training which allows them to provide high quality individualised care. Staff value the formal and informal support they receive from the registered manager which recognises the emotional impact of their work. This leads to a staff team which can provide consistency and permanency for children and young people.

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good

The home is run in accordance with the statement of purpose to provide a ‘home from home’ and staff are committed to the ethos of promoting children and young people’s progress. The statement of purpose describes how electronic surveillance is used in the home to safeguard children and young people. However, the registered manager has not ensured that placing authorities have given consent in writing to this use of monitoring.

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good

The registered manager regularly monitors and reviews the quality of care and over the past year has driven forward improvements. This includes meeting the regulatory requirement set at the last inspection regarding the recording of restraint. She ensures that staff understand children and young people’s care plans and are robust advocates for them. Staff ensure that case records reflect children and young people’s achievements and are relevant to them now and in the future.

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good

The registered manager makes child-centred decisions about children and young people joining the home. She makes careful impact risk assessments and prioritises the stability and security of the group environment. Children and young people who have newly joined the home quickly settle as a consequence. One independent reviewing officer commented:’…since his recent move, parents and teachers have noted a significant improvement in his behaviour, communication and social skills.’

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good

Both the registered manager and staff are proactive at developing positive relationships with professional stakeholders. An independent reviewing officer said: ’…staff are very accommodating and very informative’ and a teacher commented:’…the manager is so supportive and attends every meeting and communication couldn’t be better.’

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good

The registered manager ensures that staff receive training which is relevant to the specific needs of children and young people. Consequently, they are able to provide effective high quality care for children and 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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