Children's home run by Acorn Homes (UK) Ltd in Thanet

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 benefit from excellent relationships with staff.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff understand and meet the needs of each young person. Staff know each young person‟s strengths and the areas where they need more support.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people are protected and kept safe by effective risk management and safe care practices.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The home is calm and settled. Young people learn to improve, manage and take control of their behaviour successfully.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people make a commitment to education. They attend regularly and make good progress.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people‟s health is generally well managed, although staff are not always prompt to chase missing health information.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff encourage young people to maintain contact with family and friends outside of the home, but visits to the home by friends and access to social media are not facilitated.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff value their training, but a workforce development plan has not yet been put into place to evaluate and promote the individual development of each staff member.

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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 „Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards‟. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. In particular those covered in Schedule 3 (23) Details of any immunisation, allergy, or medical examination of the child and of any medical or dental need or treatment of the child.

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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 appropriate forms of contact are promoted and facilitated for each child, including where appropriate visits to the child in the home; visits by the child to relatives and/or friends; letters, emails and texts; use of social media and other forms of contact via the internet („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 58, paragraph 11.18).

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Recommendations

 Develop and put into place a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). Specifically the plan should identify training required for staff and be used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home‟s manager („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8).

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Recommendations

 Keep for all staff, including the manager, a record providing evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b) („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.3).

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Recommendations

 Ensure that, following restraint, children are given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident. Specifically, children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 50, paragraph 9.60).

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Information about this children's home

This children‟s home is operated by a private company which has a number of similar homes in the area. It is registered to accommodate up to four young people who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The company also has a school, which young people may attend.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

9 March 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people benefit from establishing meaningful and genuine relationships with staff and each other. Staff build trust by working patiently and consistently to secure close, supportive relationships. Staff take a real interest in each young person. Staff understand their individuality and respect their diverse needs. These relationships help young people feel secure, confident and motivated to express their opinions and work cooperatively. This results in a calm and harmonious atmosphere, as young people and staff work together productively. Young people value their relationships with staff. One young person commented „the staff value us and care about us‟, and another said „they make you feel important‟.

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Good

Young people's health is promoted through engaging with young people and helping them to understand the importance of maintaining a healthy diet and personal healthcare, and making good lifestyle choices. Staff use their training effectively to guide and help young people to learn skills in self-care. All young people understand how important their health is, and appropriately seek the services of their GP, dentist and optician. In one case, staff had not pursued a young person‟s immunisation history with the GP or social worker. This limits staff‟s ability to ensure that effective preventative measures are taken promptly.

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Good

Where young people need additional skills in managing their health, staff use key working effectively to spend more time with them, helping them develop their own programmes and routines, and to take increased responsibility for themselves.

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Good

Young people benefit from these sessions, which one young person described as „my time, a time when I can talk about anything I want, and it helps me understand things better.‟ They are used to canvas young people's opinions, and provide them with an effective platform to voice their opinions. Key-working sessions are themed, and young people and staff negotiate topics and subjects for discussion. This structure ensures that young people's care planning goals are considered, along with addressing day-to-day and more individualised matters. Key working is highly valued by young people and they regularly request ad hoc sessions, further demonstrating the importance and value that they place upon them.

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Good

Young people have made greater levels of commitment to their education since they have moved into this home. Young people who had previously refused school or had disrupted attendance now attend education regularly. Staff place great importance on learning and education. Reward systems, key working and the culture of the home drive progress. Attending school and working hard are rewarded by praise and celebration. This has encouraged young people to feel a sense of pride and achievement in their efforts. One young person commented, „I used to go to school because the staff thought it was important, now I go to school because I know it's important.‟

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Good

All young people enjoy living in this home and speak very favourably of the care and support provided for them. They are beginning to understand that they need to learn new skills and to take greater levels of responsibility as they move towards adulthood. Staff are helping young people to gain and use these skills through structured programmes where they practise life skills in preparation for independence. Young people who could not cook now prepare meals for themselves and the home. Young people who found budgeting and finance difficult are now able to cost meals and living expenses successfully. Staff have engaged young people effectively through praising, supporting and helping them to build their self-confidence in preparing them for the demands of adulthood.

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Good

Young people are not always allowed to invite friends back to the home because of a risk assessment based on a previous incident. This has now been addressed and staff are working closely with young people to make appropriate arrangements. The home currently does not permit the use of the Internet within the home, which restricts young people‟s access to social media and learning. Although this had not been raised in young people's meetings, young people raised it with the inspector during the inspection. This matter was brought to the attention of the deputy manager, and has been raised as a recommendation.

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Good

Young people feel safe in this home. They are confident that staff keep them safe and they also understand their responsibilities for their own safety. Safeguarding training for staff provides them with the confidence and skills to make good assessments of situations. Staff take prompt and effective action when safeguarding concerns arise. Staff understand the vulnerability of young people, and also the individual and more diverse behaviours that can place young people at further risk. Risk management planning is undertaken and exercised along with the young people, ensuring that they understand how risks have been considered. This enables them to contribute, in an informed and meaningful way, to changing their behaviour and minimising risk. This cooperative approach enables staff and young people to have a very open and honest appraisal of behaviours. It helps young people to identify times when their behaviour may place them at increased

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Good

Young people rarely go missing, and those who previously frequently went missing have ceased doing so. This change in behaviour has occurred because one-to-one working with young people has been effective in helping young people to work through behaviours that may previously have resulted in their running away. Young people have stopped these behaviours because they understand the risks that they pose, and the impact they have on their progress and goals for the future. Staff use key working sessions to discuss with young people exploitation and the dangers of going missing, identifying alternative strategies for dealing with stress or difficult situations.

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Good

One young person commented, „I used to run away quite often, sometimes for fun, sometimes because I was stressed. I don‟t need to do that now, not here.‟ Young people spoke about running away as being „in the past‟, something they have moved on from and left behind. The home has successfully instilled an understanding into the young people of the risks and difficulties that running away can present, and this has had a real impact on how young people now view going missing.

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Good

Behaviour is well managed in this home through effective engagement with young people. Good behaviour is the norm, with subtle reminders and cooperation successfully avoiding the need for more formal behaviour management strategies. Sanctions are therefore uncommon. When guidance is given to young people, this focuses on the impact of their behaviour and how others are affected, and uses a more reflective and considered approach. This instils an important understanding in young people, helping them learn how to take responsibility to modify and develop their behaviour.

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Good

Physical interventions are uncommon. However, if there is an incident, there are clear and concise records of the circumstances of the event. Young people are consulted at an arranged separate debriefing. However, they are not asked to comment on the actual record of the restraint. In the absence of their signature, the home cannot evidence that young people have seen, read and understood what happened and what has been recorded.

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Good

Health and safety, and fire safety are well managed within the home. Staff carry out regular checks to ensure that hazards are reduced or removed from the home.

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Good

Staff recruitment is safe through thorough checks on new applicants. All references are verified and evaluated, making clear that careful consideration is given to all new applicants. Recruitment practices are testing and challenging, to ensure that applicants are able to demonstrate the skills and insights that they possess before a decision is made on their employment. This ensures that only applicants who are suitable to work with young people, and possess the essential qualities and skills, are employed by the home.

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Good

A suitably qualified experienced manager, who understands and prioritises the needs of the young people, manages this service effectively. Staff have confidence in him. They trust his judgement and feel that they can go to him for guidance at any time. He is described as „hands-on‟ and, as such, has close relationships with young people. He oversees and supports their progress effectively.

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Good

Staff are motivated and dedicated in supporting young people. They talk affectionately about them, understand their needs and individuality, and build good relationships with them. Staff training supports their learning and enables them to gain confidence and knowledge to fulfil their roles. However, the home does not have a workforce plan, and training is therefore not targeted to each staff member‟s stage of professional development. Although staff feel that training is rewarding and beneficial, in the absence of planning it is not clear what impact it is having on professional development and practice.

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Good

Staff are supported through regular supervision, and say that this is challenging and beneficial. They say that it provides them with guidance and is a useful forum to develop their professional practice. Staff take their practice issues, case discussions and their personal development to these sessions to reflect on and learn from them. While there are examples of engaging and challenging sessions, others lack substance and content, making it difficult to evidence their benefit.

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Good

The statement of purpose for the home sets out the type of support and the services that are available for all young people. They are making good progress, improving behaviour, learning social skills and developing their confidence in accordance with the aims of the statement of purpose. Young people are consulted in the review of this document, and it is under regular review by the registered manager.

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Good

There are suitable numbers of sufficiently experienced staff in the home to meet the assessed needs of the young people. Effective shift planning is achieved through the registered manager‟s understanding of the skills of staff, ensuring that there is an appropriate range of skills. Emergencies and staff support are planned for by the registered manager. There are on-call staff who can be deployed, should there be an urgent need for more support of the young people.

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Good

The registered manager evaluates the quality assurance assessments of practice within the home, using this to monitor and develop the home‟s performance further. Quality assurance evaluates and measures systems and performance honestly and objectively. These assessments reflect the views of stakeholders, including young people to consider strengths and weaknesses and to form an opinion of the home‟s effectiveness. Feedback from social workers is positive, confirming the professionalism of staff and the positive progress of the young people. When shortfalls are identified by the registered manager, effective action plans are put into place. These successfully address the deficit and put preventive measures into place to reduce the likelihood of recurrence. As an example, additional monitoring was put into place in respect of key working, providing an additional and beneficial tier of oversight.

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Good

One requirement was made from the last visit, for the registered manager to ensure that the fire building plan was in place and accurately reflected the premises. This has been addressed by an improved revised plan.

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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 „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 0300 123 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

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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