Children's Home run by Longdon Hall School 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:

 Risk assessments promote young people‟s safety and welfare. They specify actions for staff to take to protect young people and reduce their risk of harm.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Internal care planning routines are child centred, and ensure that young people recognise their achievements and progress. This supports their continued development.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff encourage young people to express their views and opinions on their care. This ensures that young people are involved in these important decisions.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff work in partnership with placing authorities, local police, safeguarding agencies and other professionals. The registered manager challenges the response of other agencies when this is detrimental to young people‟s progress, safety and welfare.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people have good relationships with staff. These enhance their feelings of safety and security, and enable them to make good progress in the home.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Some areas for improvement have been identified. These include ensuring that staff hold necessary qualifications, that they have a good knowledge and understanding of safeguarding referral processes, and that all young people have suitable further education placements.

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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

In order to meet the education standard, the registered person must ensure that staff— (2)(a)(ix) help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment; 1 August 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered person must ensure that staff— (2)(a)(v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; 1 August 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification by the relevant date. The individual has attained the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”) or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma. The relevant date is, in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, to 1st April 2016, or the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home (Regulation 32(4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)). 1 August 2016

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person‟s report to HMCI (Regulation 44(7)(a)). 01 August 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a 1 August 2016 system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children (Regulation 45(1)(2)(a)(b)(c)).

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 Review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home‟s location and strategies for managing these. Providers should refer to the non-statutory advice about the location assessment process („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 64, paragraph 15.1).

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Information about this children's home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A private company owns and operates the home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16 February 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

21 September 2015 Full Requires improvement

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Good

Young people make good progress. They receive personalised care and support that reflect their individual needs, complex behaviours and vulnerabilities. Relationships between young people and staff are positive. Young people engage with staff in regular one-to-one sessions. These review individual risks assessments and internal care plans, discuss behaviours and incidents, and celebrate achievements. The development of child-friendly care plans means that young people view their plans as „live‟ documents. They confirm that they understand the content of these and say that they are involved in decisions about their current and future care needs. One young person said, „I know the plans in place for me and I‟m happy about these. I know what will happen and when.‟ This enhances their day-to-day experience of living in the home and means that they invest in their placement.

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Good

Managers and staff support educational attendance and achievement. Some young people benefit from individual education packages that reflect their leaning needs and challenge the barriers that they face. However, young people who are no longer of compulsory school age do not have suitable further education placements. In these circumstances, the actions taken to ensure that young people are able to access learning or employment opportunities are insufficient. This is contrary to encouraging young people to continue with their education.

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Good

Young people‟s physical, emotional and psychological health is well supported and promoted. Staff arrange primary healthcare appointments, such as regular visits to opticians and general practitioners. They accompany young people to these appointments when required. Effective partnership links between staff and specialists health professionals, such as therapeutic or counselling services, mean that young people are able to access bespoke health services when necessary.

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Good

Staff encourage young people to embrace a healthy and active lifestyle. Young people are involved in menu planning and discussions about hobbies and leisure activities, and are encouraged to explore new interests. This increases young people‟s self-esteem and confidence, and helps them to develop their social and emotional skills. One young person said, „I feel better about me since I moved here. I like me more and I have more respect for myself.‟

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Good

Young people know how to make a complaint. One young person said, „If I wasn‟t happy about something or didn‟t think something is right, I could make a complaint and it would get sorted out straight away.‟ The registered manager investigates all concerns that young people raise, and provides them with written and verbal feedback. This transparent approach impacts positively on young people‟s well- being and welfare.

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Good

Staff work with social workers and young people‟s families to facilitate regular contact visits. This is a strength of the home. Young people receive practical and emotional support to help them to maintain and further progress suitable relationships with their families. This means that young people are not isolated, and this supports their development.

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Good

Young people are safe, and say they feel safe. Staff work with young people, allocated social workers and other professionals to identify risk-taking behaviours, and develop strategies to reduce these risks. This integrated and comprehensive approach to risk management means that young people become increasing safe, and begin to take some responsibility for their own safety.

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Good

Staff regularly review young people‟s individual risk assessments to consider their progress, behaviours, changing circumstances and future objectives. Risk assessments are dynamic and fluid. They promote young people‟s safety and reflect their growing sense of confidence and self-esteem. One young person said, „I‟m learning to do different things to make me safe and make different choices.‟

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Good

Incidents of young people going missing from the home have been reduced and there have been no episodes since the last inspection. Staff continue to work in partnership with specialist police units and vulnerable persons services. When staff and other professionals identify child sexual exploitation as a significant risk for young people, integrated and comprehensive risk management means that support plans are clear and responsive. They specify actions for staff to follow. This strategy promotes young people‟s safety. Furthermore, young people can access independent services that specialise in Internet safety and raise awareness of grooming, cyber-bullying and other online risks.

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Good

Young people respond well to verbal praise and positive rewards. The use of sanctions and physical restraint has been reduced because staff use distraction strategies to manage unacceptable or unsafe behaviours. The registered manager retains a good oversight of these events to ensure the suitability and effectiveness of these measures of control. This keeps young people safe.

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Good

Staff receive regular training on safeguarding and child protection. Nevertheless, their knowledge and understanding of safeguarding referral processes are weak. For example, staff are unaware of the role of the designated officer for the local authority or how to refer concerns to this service. The potential detrimental impact of this shortfall is reduced, because the registered manager and senior staff do have an appropriate understanding and recognise the need to improve staff skills in this area.

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Good

Medication administration systems are effective. Staff complete medication administration training. Managers undertake regular medication audits, and staff check administration records each day. These have significantly reduced the potential for medication errors to occur.

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Good

Young people live in a warm, welcoming, comfortable and safe environment. Staff undertake regular health and safety checks, and a detailed fire risk assessment is in place. Young people participate in fire drills and practices to ensure that they are aware of how to exit the home safely in the event of a fire. The location risk assessment highlights some of the local considerations that potentially impact on young people‟s safety. These include the close proximity of a busy main road, although his document requires further development.

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Good

The registered manager is an experienced childcare practitioner. She holds suitable level qualifications, including the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. She successfully registered with Ofsted in August 2015.

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Good

Young people make good progress in all aspects of their development and personal growth, because the registered manager prioritises their needs. They are the focus of day-to-day routines in the home and they respond well to this structure. The registered manager retains a close overview of the progress that young people make, in line with the aims and objectives defined in their statutory and internal care plans. When barriers to progress are identified, the registered manager takes suitable action to address these issues. This means that young people make continual progress in this placement.

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Good

The organisation has revised the statement of purpose. The recently amended conditions of registration means that the home can now offer mixed gender placements. The statement of purpose is clear and detailed. It providers placing authorities and other professionals with appropriate information relating to the services provided by the home. The aims and objectives of the home are well defined, and this ensures that placements are suitable.

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Good

The registered manager recognises the importance of partnership working with external agencies as an essential link to young people‟s progress. Relationships with other services are strong. When the practice of other professionals falls short of acceptable standards, the registered manager challenges these agencies to ensure that young people have access to the help and support that they need. This collaborative approach is embedded in the ethos of the home. One social worker said, „Communication is excellent with the staff, and especially with the manager. We work together. We have the same goals for the young people and this is why they are doing so well.‟

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Good

Staff receive regular and good-quality supervision. These sessions appraise their performance and encourage them to reflect on their practice. Staff are supported through team meetings and workshop training sessions, alongside more formal training courses. The majority of staff employed in the home have achieved an appropriate level recognised qualification within the approved timescale. However, specific circumstances mean that this is not true for all staff. The registered manager is to address this shortfall and ensure that young people work with suitably skilled and qualified staff.

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Good

The registered manager monitors the service by considering practice in line with young people‟s progress. However, this assessment is not recorded in the quality of care review report. This document does not successfully identify patterns or trends, or indicate strengths and weakness. Furthermore, direct feedback from young people, their families or other agencies is not included. This reporting shortfall means that adequate data is neither available to appraise effectively the service, nor to identify areas for improvement. In addition, reports completed by the independent visitor are not sent to Ofsted in a timely manner. This impacts negatively on the regulator‟s ability to monitor the service as required.

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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.

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What the inspection judgements mean

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.

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What the inspection judgements mean

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.

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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.

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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 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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