Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in Surrey

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:

Quality of care provided to young people  Young people are nurtured and well cared for by staff. They are supported and encouraged to make progress and to work through their individual difficulties as they arise. Young people trust the adults who care for them and will seek support and guidance.  The home environment is warm and welcoming providing a homely feel. Young people are supported to personalise their bedrooms.  Care planning is of a good standard with regular review and evaluation.  Goals are set for young people to work towards and rewards are linked to achievements.  Young people are involved in decision making regarding key aspects of their care.  There are positive and effective relationships with outside agencies achieving good collaborative plans and outcomes for young people.  Young people are supported with maintaining relationships with key people; they are also protected from risks when identified.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The home has an attractive outside area which is utilised to offer a variety of activities.  Staff have aspirations and plans to further develop what they are able to offer young people.

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The children's home strengths

This section should only be included for homes that require improvement or for an inadequate home if there are key headline strengths to report. For good and outstanding home the key strengths will have already been set out above. [insert text]

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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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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

Ensure the system in place to notify Ofsted and other professionals of serious events is sufficiently clear about what should be reported for staff to follow consistently. (14.13 Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations)

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Information about this children's home

 The home is registered to care for up to five young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is owned and managed by the local authority.  The home provides care on a short to medium term basis dependent on the young person needs and plans.  The staff provide a nurturing supportive environment for young people to enable them to explore aspects of their past and trauma which they may have experienced.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

24/10/2014 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

02/01/2014 CH - Interim Inadequate Progress

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good

Staff have good relationships with young people and young people trust the adults that care for them. Effort is made to get to know each young person and to gain an understanding of their personal experiences and challenges experienced to enable staff to support them. Staff are child focused and they utilise individuals’ passions and interests to support them in achieving and making positive choices. Staff show young people they care about them by showing interest in them and their lives.

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good

The home is homely and welcoming and young people are encouraged to invite friends and professionals to visit them at the home.

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good

Young people are making progress, they are being supported by staff to engage in education and activities which support their education. Staff advocate for young people to ensure that they receive the education they require to meet their needs.

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good

Health plans are in place and established links with health providers and agencies ensures that the identified needs are met. The staff have access to advice and guidance from specialist practitioners if required as they attend the home frequently. Link workers provide the main point of contact with the home and other agencies to maintain relationships with others. Link workers provide specialist sessions to explore the health risks attached to behaviour and choices, for example, the risks of smoking.

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good

Staff use a variety of de-escalation techniques to avoid and reduce the use of restraint within the home. They also utilise a restorative approach to behaviour consequences and support young people to reflect on these incidents.

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good

Staff support young people to maintain relationships with those outside of the home, and particularly contact with family.

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good

Records are of good quality but lack review and evaluation oversight to enable staff to implement different interventions and strategies if required. For example, a young person on restricted weekly spending was given a generous clothing allowance which was subsequently misspent. Managers have not formalised how they evaluate and review plans to consistently meet young people needs. Judgement grade

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good

There are clear plans and protocols in place which are followed when young people go missing. Return to care interviews are completed by someone outside of the home, and this allows for an independent perspective. Staff will actively seek young people and have plans in place to actively reduce missing episodes. They offer a variety of activities in an attempt to reduce episodes of young people going missing. There are positive relationships with outside agencies who work collaboratively with the home regarding this.

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good

Risk assessments are of good quality and these are reviewed monthly and updated when required. Serous incidents are reviewed and the practice of staff is altered accordingly to minimise and avoid similar incidents reoccurring. There are positive links with police and additional support is only requested with regard to serious incidents.

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good

There are clear boundaries within the home regarding acceptable and unacceptable behaviours. There are consequences and rewards which are utilised when required. All achievements are rewarded and celebrated no matter how small they may be.

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good

Young people feel safe and like their home and what it offers them.

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good

The environment is fit for purpose and is well maintained and serviced.

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good

Systems in place to manage e-safety are individual, proportionate and reasonable considering each young person’s age and risks presented.

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good

Staff have good knowledge of risk and risk factors that may impact on a young person in their care. . They have good understanding of safeguarding policy and procedure. Training is supportive of current focus areas linked to safe guarding and child sexual exploitation and trafficking.

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good

The leadership and management of the home is effective. It provides overview and oversight of daily interventions and outcomes within the home. The manager has systems in place to review care plans but more frequent oversight would be beneficial. Management oversight has been effective in supporting and challenging the staff team to develop and explore new ways of practice when working with young people.

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good

Supervision of staff is effective and robust but frequency is variable. When it is provided there is support with development and reflection opportunities for staff. Training is provided which explores all aspects of risk and need for young people in their care. The manager is not consistent in her application of the regulations regarding notifications to HMCI. More consistent implementation of this would support other less senior staff to develop their understanding of this. The staff team are experienced and of good quality with commitment to achieving good outcomes for children and young people. They are interested in the young people and support them to achieve their goals.

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good

The statement of purpose is a true reflection of what the home offers to the young people in their care.

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good

A weekly building walk-around occurs to check for risk factors and damage to property but more vigilance would be beneficial.

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good

Relationships with stakeholders are good and the maintenance and development of these is ongoing. The level of outside professional input into the home is good and contributes effectively to achieving good outcomes for young people.

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good

Preadmission assessments are thorough and highlight risks which enables the manager to judge compatibility and appropriateness of placement.

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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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