Children's home run by Hertfordshire County Council in Dacorum

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:

 Children have individualised support plans that accurately reflect their needs and preferences.  Children and staff clearly understand children’s specific targets and goals and strive to work towards them.  Children make progress across all areas of their development.  Staff offer children warm, nurturing and positive care. Relationships are well established and important to children and staff alike.  The manager and staff advocate on behalf of children and are proactive in challenging when responses from other services are not effective.  Children are actively encouraged and enabled to make decisions about their home.  Parents say that they are impressed with the quality of care offered.  The home is mostly warm, welcoming and attractive, although children say they do not like the metal grills at some of the windows.  Staff do not consistently ensure that children maintain routines that enable

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The children's home provision is good because:

them to engage with independent study.  Staff do not consistently update risk assessments to reflect new or changed risk.  Staff do not consistently record sufficient detail on case files to evidence work undertaken and/or actions taken.  Staff did not inform management of an incident of concern immediately, which was not in line with the home’s child protection policy.  Some safeguarding checks made in respect of newly recruited staff have not been undertaken robustly enough.

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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 within the given timescales.

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12: The protection of children standard

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered provider must ensure:

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12: The protection of children standard

(2) (a)(i) that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child with specific regard to updating individual risk assessments;

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12: The protection of children standard

(ii) that staff help each child to understand how to keep safe with specific regard to individual work around issues of concern;

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12: The protection of children standard

(vii) that staff are familiar with and act in accordance with the home’s child protection policies with specific regard to ensuring allegations against staff are acted upon without delay. 7 July 2016

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12: The protection of children standard

The registered person must recruit staff ensuring that full and satisfactory information is available in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2, with particular reference to if a person has previously worked in a position involving work with children or vulnerable adults, verification so far as reasonably practicable of the reason why the employment or position ended and employment history. (Regulation 32 (1)(3)(d)) 7 July 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 are familiar with the home's policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4).

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Recommendations

 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 (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18).

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets children's needs and is a homely domestic environment, particularly in relation to replacing the metal grills at some of the windows (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9).

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Information about this children's home

This is a local authority children’s home registered to accommodate up to four young people for a short to medium term. Young people who live here will have been assessed as having emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, and aged between 11 and 18 years.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

19 January 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

18 August 2015 Full Requires improvement

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Recent inspection history

10 February 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Children have individualised, clearly detailed support plans, which provide essential information that is specific to them. They have personalised targets to aim towards, that staff review and update. When staff ensure that information is consistently recorded against the targets, it is clear that young people are making positive progress.

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Good

Staff know young people very well and show them daily that they care about them. There is a strong emphasis on relationship building, and this has created a positive and nurturing environment. Children say that they are happy living here and feel that staff are willing to go ‘above and beyond’ for them. One child said ‘they are lovely; they will do anything for me’. Her mother added ‘they jump through hoops to make life happier for her.’

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Good

Children and their carers, where appropriate, benefit from therapeutic input and support from a therapist who offers individual and family work. Staff are also able to access therapeutic consultation regularly, in relation to their work with individual children.

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Good

Children are encouraged and enabled to contribute to the running and organisation of their home. They have recently chosen the fixtures, fittings and colour schemes of their newly fitted kitchen. They attend weekly house meetings and regularly take part in relevant discussions and decisions. Children are encouraged to compliment or complain and do so accordingly. Staff take children’s views seriously and the manager ensures that she responds fully to any issues raised.

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Good

Children are offered opportunities to engage in activities and pastimes specific to their interests both in the home and in the wider community. Each child has a weekly activity planner which details events for the week, such a basketball competition, trampoline competition, quiz night, pamper night, a picnic or boating trip. During the inspection children were assisting staff to plan various summer holidays in line with their interests and preferences.

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Good

Wherever possible, transitions in and out of the home take place in a planned and managed way that children understand and that takes account of their needs. The manager and staff consider the impact of children joining those already living in the home prior to agreeing to a new placement. Children are informed and advised when new people are joining them. One child had purchased a card and a present ready for a new child due to join them shortly. Children are encouraged and enabled to have positive contact with family members where possible. Some children now enjoy regular, good quality time with family, when it wasn’t previously possible. Staff have actively promoted and supported this.

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Good

Staff work closely with a dedicated educational adviser to access an appropriate provision fitted to children’s individual needs. One child has been very successful in accessing an appropriate college placement and work experience, and this has significantly impacted on his self-esteem. When children are not in full-time schooling, bespoke packages are in place to encourage them to continue with education. The manager and the educational adviser are proactive in ensuring that children are appropriately assessed to ensure that the most suitable educational provision is identified.

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Good

When children refuse to go to school, staff are not always proactive enough in ensuring that they maintain a routine commensurate with the academic day. Expectations around education are clear but staff are yet to implement this robustly. This has the potential for children to lose the routine of the school day.

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Good

The home is mostly well furnished, attractively decorated and maintained to a very high standard. One child was happy and proud to show off an environment he clearly appreciated and valued. Communal rooms have recently been upgraded and decorated and look homely and attractive. Children’s rooms are personalised and decorated to their taste, with photographs and personal effects on show, giving the feel of a family home. One child said that he hated the metal grills at some of the windows as it felt ‘prison like’.

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Good

Although there are good systems in place to enable staff and children to track the progress they make, staff do not yet consistently record all relevant information thoroughly enough. Accordingly, it is not always possible to evidence the full extent of progress that children make.

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Good

Children say that they feel safe in this home. They trust the staff who look after them to protect them and meet their needs. Bullying is rare and the one incident that has taken place was dealt with swiftly, with follow up and discussion in the subsequent children’s meeting.

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Good

Staff understand risk and the particular vulnerabilities of the children with whom they work. Children identified as being at risk of absconding have full and detailed protocols to be followed should they go missing from the home. Some young people do leave the home on a regular basis, mostly in an attempt to return to family and friends. Staff are able to evidence a consistently robust and effective response, ensuring that children are safely returned as soon as possible. Multi-agency links with dedicated police groups for children at risk of going missing or child sexual exploitation are strong, and a consistent, joined up response is offered.

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Good

Staff understand child sexual exploitation and, in consultation with specialist police colleagues, have piloted a support group for children considered to be at risk. The group focuses on self-esteem, sexual health, friends and relationships. Individual link workers also undertake one-to-one work with children in direct work sessions around areas of identified need.

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Good

Staff manage behaviour consistently and children are clear about what is expected of them. Each child has a behaviour management plan which clearly identifies potential triggers to heightened behaviour and corresponding reduction measures. Staff deal with most situations by using de-escalation techniques. Sanctions are used rarely and whenever possible a restorative approach is adopted in order to help children gain an understanding of the impact of their behaviour. Physical intervention is used infrequently and always as a last resort to prevent injury or damage to property. Each incident is recorded in detail and scrutinised by the manager and allocated social worker. The one recorded incident was proportionate and appropriate.

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Good

Each child has an individual risk matrix which identifies and quantifies concerns specific to them. Staff review each child’s risk matrix on a regular basis to ensure that flagged risks remain current and relevant. Against each identified risk are strategies and suggestions as to how to minimise concerns for each child. Currently, staff do not always ensure that the risk management plans are updated consistently when and if new concerns are identified. This does not ensure that all reasonable risk reduction strategies are identified and shared with staff.

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Good

Allegations made by children against staff members are dealt with appropriately and investigated fully, once reported. However, staff did not inform management of an incident of concern immediately, which was not in line with the home’s child protection policy

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Good

Robust safeguarding procedures are in place around recruiting and employing new staff members. However, some gaps in securing and recording supporting information were noted. This does not enable a full audit trail so that managers can assure themselves that safe recruitment processes have been followed.

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leaders and managers

The registered manager has been in post since 2014. She has a level 3 qualification in working with children and young people, a level 4 in children’s social care and a level 5 in leadership and management. She is energetic and ambitious both for the home and the children who live there. She leads a strong and stable staff group, focused on ensuring children access a high quality of care and protection. Both the manager and staff advocate strongly on behalf of the children and are focused and committed to ensuring responses from other services fully meet children’s needs.

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leaders and managers

Staff have access to a wide range of good quality training within the local authority but can also request specific input to meet a particular need. Staff meetings take place weekly and are conducted productively to discuss individual practice issues. Children’s progress is a regular agenda item and staff share relevant training undertaken with colleagues.

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leaders and managers

Staff have regular supervision which they describe as both practical, reflective and at times challenging. An annual performance management process is ongoing, and this focuses staff and managers on evidencing continual professional development.

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leaders and managers

Professional relationships are good. Social workers spoken to said that communication was a particular strength and reports showed a good understanding of the children. One said that ‘the home are very good at listening to children; they are focused on doing what is best for them.’ Parents confirmed this, describing communication as ‘excellent’.

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leaders and managers

The manager uses a sophisticated data analysis tool designed to track all aspects of children’s development. Information is gathered from individual case audits, team discussions and professional supervisions. This tool is designed to evidence the difference the home makes to children across every area of development. It enables the management team to track trends and tailor the service offered to best meet need. Although impressive, this tool is in the early stages of development. Staff do not yet consistently collect all the information required for this to be a completely accurate reflection of the progress that children are making.

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leaders and managers

The manager is proud of the strengths of the home, which she considers to be the care and commitment that staff consistently offer to young people, as well as the calm, nurturing environment and the energy and effort staff put into advocating for the children for whom they care. At the same time, she is aware of areas that require further development. Good tools are in place to measure progress and track changes but this will only be effective if staff input good quality information as a matter of routine.

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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 children looked after 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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