Children's home run by Hertfordshire County Council in Dacorum

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged Good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judges that it has Sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager has made progress against the requirements and recommendations from the last inspection. He has delivered additional training on the administration of medication. As a consequence, staff better understand the procedure and their individual responsibilities. The manager and a senior member of staff undertake regular audits of medication records. These are comprehensive and up to date. There have been no instances since the last inspection when young people either have not received their medication or it has been administered late.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

No new members of staff have been recruited recently, and the manager has re- checked records of some current staff where information had been omitted. Records are now complete and verified. This is a standard part of the process of recruitment and the manager will ensure that full information is obtained for all future employees. This ensures that as much information as possible is gathered to ensure an individual’s suitability to work with vulnerable young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff are now receiving better quality supervision, allowing them time to reflect on their practice and the needs of young people. The manager has introduced a new template to support this process, ensuring that better quality supervision is consistently offered and that individual sessions are well documented.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people have access to a wide range of activities, both in and outside of the home, which they say they enjoy. They shared photographs of trips to Winter Wonderland, their Christmas ball, camping and the zoo. They make suggestions about where they would like to go and, whenever possible, staff endeavour to arrange it. Staff are currently in the process of organising a summer visit to Mount Snowdon at the request of one young person. The trip to the zoo was a particular success, as all five of the young people went together and enjoyed a very positive day out. This is a significant achievement for them, as there have been difficult dynamics within the group.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff have made some improvement in maintaining records and ensuring that they are regularly updated. They have also improved and developed the templates and systems they use. However, they do not consistently ensure that all records are complete and contain enough detail. Some key work session notes are vague and lack substance, making it difficult to establish if areas of work have been addressed. Similarly, some risk assessments do not clearly show where risks have been updated following significant incidents. Staff are not yet confident about what to record where, as some systems overlap. There is a risk of important information being omitted. This has the potential to impact on the consistency of care and protection offered to young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has introduced a number of new tools to better evidence the progress of young people in relation to identified outcomes, general development and well-being. These look promising in terms of providing information about the difference they are making for young people going forward. However, at this stage this is not yet sufficiently embedded to offer any real insight.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people are settled in the home and have made some good progress. Most are receiving some form of education, and staff evidence a proactive response to securing a suitable provision for them all. Staff are confident and able to challenge on behalf of young people whose needs are not being met, and do so on a regular basis. When young people engage inconsistently with education, staff endeavour to ensure that they maintain a daily routine in line with the school day. However, this is not always robustly implemented. This does not encourage them to engage with independent study when not in school.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the last inspection, there have been no incidents that have required physical intervention. Similarly, there have been no reported incidents when young people have been missing from care. There have been three incidents when young people left the home without authority to do so, but these have been for very short periods of time. This is a significant improvement.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff are positive about young people and have established warm and appropriate relationships with them. In return, young people speak highly of staff, as did a social worker who said staff were ‘very, very committed, and regularly go above and beyond for young people’.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people are increasingly encouraged to participate in the running of their home. Young people’s meetings take place regularly and, recently, a suggestions box has been obtained. Young people are engaging with this and several ideas have been implemented. One young person is shortly to receive training to enable her to play a part in the recruitment of new staff. She is also to attend a national conference on bullying, with a view to cascading knowledge back to other young people. This reinforces young people’s feelings of being listened to and having their views acted upon.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

During this inspection, young people took the opportunity to request that they are given more choice of snack food items. Although they say main meals are acceptable, they are of the view that the variety of snacks is inadequate. There was a limited selection of nutritious foods available to eat between meals, but they were clear that they wanted a greater selection to choose from.

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Information about this children's home

This local authority home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties, of either sex, aged 11–18 years.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

05/02/2014 Interim Satisfactory progress

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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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Statutory requirements

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which are kept up to date, and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(b)(c)) 25/03/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s): Ensure that staff make every effort to encourage and support young people to maintain routines that ensure that they are able to engage with independent study. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 29 paragraph 5.18)

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Recommendations

Ensure that, where appropriate, young people are involved in choosing and preparing nutritious meals and snacks. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15 paragraph 3.8) 

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and ‘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, work- based 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

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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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