Children's Home run by North East Lincolnshire Council in North East Lincolnshire

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 make good progress and live in a home that is warm, welcoming and inviting.  Staff are nurturing and help young people to feel valued, improve their confidence and develop independence.  Young people are safe and staff work hard to keep them safe, while allowing them to follow their individual lifestyles.  Staff are committed and persevere despite any challenges that young people may present.  Staff build good relationships with young people that helps affect positive change in young people’s behaviour and social skills.  Leadership and management arrangements are strong with a good focus on young people’s needs.  Staffing levels are high and staff have a wide range of experience and training that is effectively used to support young people.

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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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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard. In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must— (2)(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 31 August

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child's assessed needs as recorded in the child's relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 56, paragraph 11.4). In particular, ensure that completed ‘pre-placement risk assessments’ demonstrate that the impact has been fully considered.  The registered person must challenge (under Regulation 5(c)) any placing authority who asks them to accept a child in the absence of a complete and current relevant plan, as the expectation that a placement of a child without the necessary information would go ahead (in circumstances other than an

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Recommendations

emergency) is inadequate in relation to their role. It is essential that homes understand what will be required of them before they accept responsibility for a child's placement ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 56, paragraph 11.5). In particular, obtain a copy of the latest single assessment to inform the care that a child needs.

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Information about this children's home

The local authority has registered this home to provide care and accommodation for up to two children who may have a learning disability.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

24 February 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

10 March 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people live in a home that is warm, welcoming and inviting. It is well kept, homely and decorated with photos of young people and their art work. Their bedrooms are personalised, reflecting individual tastes and they have been included in decorating the home and work in the garden.

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Good

Staff are nurturing and caring, which has a positive impact upon young people’s self-esteem, emotional health and motivation to succeed. Young people make good progress. For example, they take more pride in their appearance, have better sleep patterns, eat healthier diets, learn new skills, take part in more social activities and enjoy new experiences.

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Good

Staff are committed, persistent and motivated to help young people achieve their potential. Staff stand by young people despite barriers, such as a reluctance to engage and anti-social behaviour. Young people feel valued and important because of the respect, praise and acknowledgment of their individual talents and needs. This helps to build strong, positive and trusting relationships with staff.

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Good

The manager and staff are fully committed to young people trying out new things and pursuing their hobbies and interests. They help young people to enjoy a wide range of leisure and social activities. This includes horse riding, swimming, cadets, going camping, indoor climbing and watching their football team play at Wembley. They have their own holidays booked for the summer and a winter skiing trip. One young person has negotiated having a pet hamster to look after. To encourage one young person to go out more, his friend is invited along to the cinema, climbing and to go on holiday together.

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Good

Young people regularly see their friends, who are welcome in the home and are able to go to each other’s homes for sleepovers. Likewise, staff strongly support and encourage family contact. In some cases, this helps young people rebuild broken relationships. The manager and staff are fully aware of any risks associated with contact and act accordingly to keep young people safe.

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Good

Staff encourage young people to attend routine and specialist health appointments. Young people benefit from the input of children and adolescent mental health services that promotes their emotional development and improves their resilience. Their physical health improves from better sleep, healthier diets and regular exercise. Some young people have excellent education attendance and progress well at school. When this is not the case, positive alternatives are pursued such as home tutoring. Young people are encouraged to sit their exams, gain qualifications and explore options for future education. Academic achievements are enhanced by learning new independence skills to improve future life chances and make the transition to adulthood as smooth as possible.

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Good

Care planning is based on Signs of Safety, but this model is not yet fully embedded in practice. There is a strong child-centred focus to care plans and young people’s views are listened to and acted upon. In one case, there were no social work assessments to help inform care plans, but the manager and staff did have enough suitable background information to care for the young person.

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Good

Young people are safe and feel safe. They do not go missing from the home, avoid the risks of smoking, alcohol and substance misuse and are free from all forms of exploitation. Staff are trained to understand a range of safeguarding matters and how to respond appropriately if needed. For example, in the event that a young person did go missing.

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Good

Staff have a very good understanding of young people’s individual vulnerabilities and give the protection of young people a high priority. There are sensible discussions about personal safety, coming home on time and appropriate use of the internet between staff and young people. Concerns about social isolation are addressed so that young people maintain and develop local friendships and family contact.

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Good

Risk management is good. This helps young people to safely follow their chosen lifestyles and enjoy new experiences. For example, access to online gaming, a trip to Wembley Stadium, going camping and holidays. Any concerns are fully explained to young people to help them understand the need for any restrictions, such as staff monitoring family contact via social media.

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Good

Strong relationships between staff and young people help to foster improvements in behaviour. Suitable expectations, clearly communicated, encourage young people to be more polite, reduce swearing and facilitate positive interaction as opposed to ignoring staff. Staff’s patient and sensitive persistence helps young people to hear difficult messages without them overreacting.

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Good

The manager and staff have taken on board advice from local mental health services. This has promoted a better approach to behaviour management that provides young people with positive choices and rewards, helping them to build for the first time emotional security and attachment to adult carers.

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Good

Admissions of young people moving into the home are generally considered very carefully to avoid unnecessary negative impact. On one recent occasion, the corresponding ‘pre-placement assessment’ did not fully reflect a robust decision- making process. However, it was evident from discussion that relevant factors had been considered in planning this admission.

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Good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and she has significant experience in residential childcare. She has managed this home successfully for two and a half years. Two senior staff contribute to the consistent and effective management of the home.

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Good

The manager monitors the quality of care, experiences and progress of young people. She encourages all staff to contribute to these evaluation processes, thereby developing the focus on young people’s achievements, as well as improving team work and communication. Young people’s individual Signs of Safety reviews and six-monthly quality assurance reports of the service are completed. These documents do not fully capture the ‘journey of the child’ since admission and lack of future objectives compromises the manager’s commitment to continuous improvement.

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Good

Although there are shortfalls in these written documents, the manager and staff are very able to discuss young people’s development and needs. The staff team is skilled in reflecting on young people’s historical experiences. The staff provide tailored support to take account of this, promote young people’s development and help them to make significant achievements.

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Good

The manager is clear about the strengths and weaknesses of the home and is aware that written records do not fully reflect all that the staff and young people accomplish. There is further training planned for staff about using Signs of Safety and suitable plans regarding the future care of young people. The manager has kept standards high by ensuring that the staff team has gelled well together after last year’s staffing restructure. The quality of the internal decoration has improved and gardening projects involving a young person have given the outside a more homely and inclusive aspect. There are high staffing levels, giving young people one-to-one levels of support. The staff have a range of backgrounds and expertise, they all have the required Level 3 qualification and undertake a range of training. Therefore, individually and as a team, they provide young people with good quality care. They work effectively

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Good

to give young people a safe, secure home and provide important stability and consistency. One social worker commented, ‘Although he (young person) objected to the structure when he moved in, it is doing him good.’

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Good

Staff receive regular supervision and feel very supported in their roles. Previous gaps in supervision highlighted by the independent visitor have been addressed by the manager, ensuring that this aspect of practice is now consistent. The independent visitor also helped to eliminate the use of sanctions, facilitating positive rewards for a young person. Rewards for good behaviour, rather than sanctions for poor behaviour, are much better suited to her emotional needs.

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Good

The manager and staff develop effective partnerships with young people, their relatives and other professionals. The manager’s drive to achieve positive outcomes for young people ensures that input from other agencies is almost always effective and timely. This puts young people at the heart of the service.

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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 that 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

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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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