Children's Home run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Suffolk

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:

 Staff understand the importance of education and actively support young people to attend.  Young people are supported in learning to manage risk, according to their age, ability and understanding.  Young people say that they feel safe living in the home and can speak to staff if they are worried or upset.  Young people have a wide variety of activities that they can attend in the community.  Young people are encouraged and supported to build and maintain positive friendships.  Staff understand the importance of good transitions, both into and leaving the home.  Staff understand the importance of contact for young people and their families, and facilitate this.  Young people are supported and encouraged to maintain positive relationships with their friends in the community, including having overnight stays. Young people know who to complain and can name staff they would speak to if they were worried or upset.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Some improvement is needed in record keeping including children’s files, restraint records. Not all staff have the relevant qualifications or receive suitable supervision. Some of the communal areas require redecoration.

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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 Standard Act 2000, Children’s Home (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within five working days of the use of the measure, the registered person or authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(c)) 25/07/16

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(c) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. In particular, ensure that they are maintained to a good homely standard. 01/09/16

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, the registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(c ) ensure that arrangements are in place to ensure each child’s relevant plans are followed. 25/07/16

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only employ an individual to work at the children’s home if the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform. For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, 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 starts working in a care role in a home after 1 April 2014, the date which falls two years after the date on which the 01/09/16 individual started working in a care role in a home; or, in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1 April 2014, 1 April 2016. (Regulation 32 (2)(a) (3)(b)

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 01/09/16

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that children’s case records are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(c)) 25/07/16

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must give notice, in writing to HMCI, as soon as it is reasonably practicable to do so, if any of the following events take place or are expected by the registered person to take place: a person other than the registered person carries on or manages the children ’ s home; a person ceases to carry on or manage the home. (Regulation 49 (a)(b)) 25/07/16

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating- the quality of care provided for children; the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, it’s 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 (2)(a)(b)(c)) 25/07/16

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording, with particular regard to key working sessions. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The home’s staff should recognise and celebrate the achievements of their children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 31, paragraph 6.7  The registered person must achieve continuity of staffing so that children’s attachments are not overly disrupted, including ensuring that the employment of any temporary staff will not prevent children from receiving the continuity of care that they need, with specific reference to building a stable staff team so that young people can build and sustain good quality relationships. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)  Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should monitor and review the patterns and trends of turnover of staff, whether agency or directly employed and be able understand and where possible, address any negative trends. ( Guide to the children’s homes regulations and quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 10.19) 

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a private organisation. There is an on-site school at another home owned by the organisation which young people can attend.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

9 February 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

There have been significant changes in the home during the past few weeks. The registered manager has left and an interim manager has been appointed. Young people commented that they have met her before, really like her, and are happy that she is currently managing the home.

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Good

There have been issues with staff shortages in the home. Staff from a sister home, which is due to close in a few weeks, have been covering shifts. One young person commented, ‘Sometimes I wake up and I don’t know who’s on shift and it would be nice to know, but the staff are OK and you can talk to them.’ The responsible individual has put a clear plan in place to ensure that young people are not at risk.

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Good

The young people have built good relationships with the permanent staff and have started to build positive relationships with the staff covering the home.

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Good

The young people have made good progress since moving into the home. One young person has recently completed his GCSEs and has moved into independence. Another young person living in the home has also completed her GCSEs and has secured a college placement for September. Young people have also accessed extra mathematics and music lessons to support them in the lead-up to exams. One young person, although on roll at school, attends education off-site. He is currently studying mathematics, English and science. The school is working with him to reintegrate him back into the classroom and he is currently attending physical education classes with his peers at school, along with some extra- curricular activities to maintain friendships. The headteacher commented that the home and school work well together. Staff understand the importance of education and actively support young people to attend.

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Good

The staff spoken to have a good understanding of the young people and the reasons that they are living in the home. Young people spoken to knew and understood why they are at the home. Staff respect the young people and treat them as individuals. A young person commented, ‘Staff will knock on my door and wait for me to answer.’ This supports young people in feeling valued and safe.

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Good

Staff understand the importance of regular contact with parents and siblings and will facilitate and support these when needed. They look at how sibling contact can be more interactive, such as a park or activity to ensure that contact is appropriate and meaningful. Staff spend quality time with the young people and support them with hobbies and interests which are individualised to them. One young person has been supported in attending auditions for the X Factor and The Voice.

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Good

The home is set in a rural location. It is in a spacious house, surrounded by fields and woods. In one field there are horses, which are owned by staff, and which young people will often spend time with. A young person commented, ‘I love the horses. They know me and come over when they hear me.’ He was able to demonstrate how you have to behave around the horses and explained, ‘You can just talk to them and they look like they are listening.’ A member of staff also brings her dog to work regularly. Young people know that they need to behave and remain calm when the dog is around as otherwise they will not be able to spend time with him. Staff commented that the young people respond well to the dog and often self-regulate their behaviours so as not to upset him. A young person spoken to informed me that he has to be calm when the dog is around or he cannot spend time with him, time which he really enjoys.

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Good

Staff understand the importance of transitions both into and out of the home and the effect that this can have on the group’s dynamics. A young person who recently moved in commented that he came to visit the home three times so that he could get to know the staff. Staff also understand that transitions can vary for each young person.

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Good

Impact risk assessments are completed as part of the referral process, and young people are informed of any new admissions that are pending. The home has completed risk assessments on two young people from the sister home which is due to close, and plans are in the process of being made to ensure that there is a good transition for all the young people. The young people are aware of the pending admissions and are looking forward to them moving in. Staff from the sister home will also transfer over, which will give the young people continuity.

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Good

There are good links with the local police community support officer, who regularly visits the home to encourage the young people to build positive relationships with the police.

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Good

The young people are registered with the local GP, dentist, optician and other health professionals. Staff support them in attending all health appointments. The full names and addresses of health practitioners need to be added to the placement plans.

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Good

A young person is in the process of changing bedrooms. She commented, ‘I couldn’t personalise my room before, but I have been told I can choose what I want in there now, which will be better as it will make it feel more like home.’ Another young person was proud to show off his room, saying that he liked it and had everything he wanted. The young people have individualised care plans in place. The staff are in the process of updating these to a new format, so not all information is current. The new format will be easier for staff to complete, will contain more relevant information and young people will also have the opportunity to comment and sign their individual plans.

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Good

The young people know how to complain and feel listened to. There have been no complaints since the last inspection. A young person commented, ‘If I was unhappy about something, I would let my key worker know and he would sort it.’

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Good

Staff understand the importance of reinforcing boundaries and challenging young people appropriately. Staff have reflective conversations with young people to discuss behaviours and support, but records of these are not always easy to find as staff use different ways of recording these. One young person has drawn up a contract with staff about behaviour, and staff report that this has been successful because he was involved in its implementation.

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Good

There have been 14 physical interventions since the last inspection. Two low-level holds were recorded on the wrong paperwork. Some paperwork is incomplete due to the young people not being debriefed or being given the opportunity to comment and sign them. The manager has not always signed and commented on holds, making it difficult to evaluate.

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Good

There are behaviour plans in place, and staff use a range of distraction techniques to try to prevent the need to hold young people.

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Good

Comprehensive risk assessments are in place for young people out in the community and in the home. These are reviewed and updated when needed. The manager has begun an audit of these to ensure that information is current and that young people are continually safeguarded.

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Good

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and have attended all the relevant training, including the ‘Prevent’ duty, and are vigilant around young people. They understand young people’s vulnerabilities and potential risks, but also support young people in understanding and managing these themselves, according to their age and understanding, so that they can have the same opportunities as their peers while still being safeguarded. Staff understand the issues around the internet. They have completed online training. At this time, the young people have no computer in the home. This has been ordered and will arrive within the next few weeks. One young person commented that she cannot get the internet on her phone and cannot use Google, Snapchat or YouTube and this makes it difficult to stay in touch with her friends. The responsible individual is looking at internet access and if the level of access

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Good

can vary for young people while taking into account their age, understanding and vulnerability.

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Good

There has only been one incident of a young person going missing since the last full inspection. Staff followed the home’s protocol and all appropriate paperwork was completed.

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Good

All medication is stored and recorded appropriately. Consent for medical treatment is in place and is signed by parents and social workers. Staff cannot give medication until they have completed appropriate training to ensure that it is safely administered and recorded, to protect young people from medication errors.

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Requires improvement

Since the last inspection, the manager has left the organisation. An interim manager is currently managing the home and has been in post since the end of June. There is no record that Ofsted has been notified of the manager leaving the organisation. The organisation is actively looking to recruit a new manager.

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Requires improvement

The home is currently short of permanent staff, which has made it difficult to implement the rota. Staff from the local sister homes have been covering, meaning that agency staff have not been used and this has given some consistency for the young people. A sister home is due to close in the next few weeks and staff will be redeployed from there to the home. A young person has commented that it has been difficult having different staff in and out.

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Requires improvement

There were five recommendations from the last inspection. Three of these have been met and the interim manager has started to implement the remaining two, but these are repeated.

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Requires improvement

Staff working in the home have a good understanding of the young people’s individual needs and feel supported by the interim manager.

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Requires improvement

The interim manager and responsible individual are both new to the posts, but have a clear vision for the home and aspirations for the young people to be able to reach their full potential.

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Requires improvement

Staff have received limited supervision since the last full inspection, and some recording is of poor quality. One member of staff spoken to said that he could not recall when he last had supervision. The interim manager understands the importance of regular, good quality supervision and a matrix is now in place to ensure that supervisions take place. All staff appraisals have been completed.

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Requires improvement

Staff are up to date with their mandatory training. Only four staff have completed the national vocational qualification level 3, leaving eight outstanding. Although they are now registered on the national vocational qualification level 3, they have worked with young people for two years and therefore do not meet the requirement to have achieved the appropriate qualification within the required timescale.

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Requires improvement

There are monitoring systems in place which track young people’s progression, patterns and trends. Unfortunately, these have not been updated for several months, making it difficult to monitor care practice and outcomes for young people.

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Requires improvement

Recruitment is robust and all checks are completed and verified before staff can begin to work in the home. There is a detailed induction programme for staff to complete during their probationary period. Since the last full inspection, six staff have begun to work in the home and five of these have left. This makes it difficult for young people to make and maintain meaningful, positive relationships. Exit interviews have not been completed, making it difficult to ascertain the reasons why staff have left.

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Requires improvement

Staff complete good, informative daily records but they need to ensure that young people and staff are differentiated if they have the same name or initials. Staff do not sign each entry that they make on young people’s case records This makes it difficult to track which staff have recorded on the young people’s daily records if clarification of an incident is needed.

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Requires improvement

Young people’s meetings have been sporadic for some time. Young people spoken to commented: ‘They are boring and a waste of time, no one listens and nothing changes, so what’s the point, x has spoken to us and asked us to think about how we can change them and what we want to happen, so I think they will be better.’ The interim manager is keen for young people to have more of a say in the running of the home and for their views to be listened to. This will support young people in having a stronger sense of belonging in the home.

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Requires improvement

Young people’s key work sessions have also been sporadic. Staff are recording good conversations with the young people and the interim manager is in the process of reformatting the key work paperwork so that these conversations can be recorded as key work with actions and targets to be incorporated. This will also be another way of gaining information about young people’s wishes, views and feelings.

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Requires improvement

The interim manager has begun to look at how young people’s achievements and positive behaviours are recognised and celebrated. A positive reward book has recently been put in place, which a young person has responded to well. Staff understand that for some young people, targets and goals need to be short and focused to give a greater chance of achievement.

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Requires improvement

The home is set in a rural location, surrounded by fields and woods. The house is large and spacious, with good-sized bedrooms, some of which are en suite. However, the home is in need of redecoration in communal areas, some furniture and carpets need to be replaced and the two spare bedrooms will need to be redecorated and carpeted before young people can move in. A young person spoken to felt that the home is looking shabby and commented, ‘If the house looked decent I would call it home, but at the moment I don’t.’ A programme of repair and redecoration is being undertaken by managers and the maintenance team in order to improve the living environment for the young people.

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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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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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