Children's home run by Oldham Children’s Social Care in Oldham

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 benefit from positive relationships with staff that have a good understanding of their specific needs.  The home works in partnership with parents, carers and other professionals to promote positive outcomes. One parent commented: ‘staff at the home work really well to support my child and we are fully included in all aspects of the planning for his care. He enjoys coming to the home and this provides us with reassurance, knowing he is well cared for and happy.’  Children’s health care needs are clearly identified in individual health care plans which enable staff to provide effective support.  Staff are committed to supporting children to remain safe. Regular training and a good knowledge of safeguarding policies and procedures underpin their practice.  The Registered Manager is suitably qualified and experienced. The deputy managers and staff put children at the centre of their practice to fully

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The children's home provision is good because:

support him in his role.  The home is well-maintained with children having use of a range of facilities within the home during their short stay. In addition to the usual comfortable areas which includes a lounge, dining room and individual bedrooms, as well as a sensory room, sensory garden and play area.

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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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Requirement Due date

14: The care planning standard In order to meet the care planning standard with particular reference to transition to adult services the registered person must: (1)(b) ensure children have a positive experience of arriving or moving on from the home. 31/12/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  enable children and young people to have increased opportunities available to share, socialise with others and choose activities alongside their peers. This is particular relation to accessing activities within the local community (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 40 8.21)  Where there is a risk that a child may run away or go missing from the placement, their placement plan should include a strategy to minimise this risk (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 45 9.24)  The registered person should plan staffing levels to ensure that they meet the needs of children and can respond flexibly to unexpected events or opportunities (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 54 10.15)

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Information about this children's home

This is a local authority home providing short breaks for up to 6 children with physical disabilities, learning disabilities, sensory impairment, and/or autistic spectrum disorder.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

27/02/2015 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

27/02/2014 CH - Interim Satisfactory Progress

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good

Children in receipt of a short break service are provided with a good level of care and support which takes into account their individual needs. Experienced staff provide child focused care and support to enable children to achieve positive outcomes, and benefit from their short break stays at the home.

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good

Staff work in partnership with parents and professionals to enable children to make progress in all aspects of their social and emotional development as well as positive health and education outcomes. Parental responsibility is retained by parents, however staff work closely with them as well as with schools and health care professionals to ensure the children receive consistent levels of care and support. One parent said: ‘the home supports my child very well. Staff are always supportive and inclusive. I feel that my views are really listened to and this give me confidence that my child is safe and happy when he comes to stay.’ Another parent said: ‘my child is always excited about coming to stay here and is happy and relaxed when he returns home.’

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good

All children have individual care plans; developed in conjunction with parents, professionals and where appropriate, the child. Staff have a good understanding of the individual communication methods children use and this enables them to communicate at the child’s level of communication and understanding. This means that children are involved and can make choices during their stay at the home, which includes what they like to eat and what activities they would like to do. To further involve children, an independent children’s rights worker has been working with children visiting the home to help gather their views about the home and the things they like doing. These wishes and views will contribute to the further development of the service provided by the home.

p.6

good

Children are supported in accordance with their abilities, to undertake and develop self-care skills as identified within their care plans, in preparation for moving on to adulthood. However, some plans for this transition are unclear and records of specific work undertaken are not consistently completed. This means, for a few young people, the transition into adult services lacks effective planning.

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good

Staffing levels at the home have been low at times and this has led to some children having their short break rearranged at short notice or limited access to activities outside of the home. The manager has now taken steps to minimise this happening. The home is warm, spacious, and well-furnished to meet children’s needs. They have access to a sensory room, lounge and dining area as well as their own bedroom during their stay. To help young people feel comfortable and relaxed, the bedrooms are personalised with duvet covers of their choice and they are able to bring toys or additional items to help them to feel settled. Externally, there is a secure play area and sensory garden with a range of toys and play equipment for them to enjoy. The home also has a minibus to use for access to facilities within the local community. However, due to recent staffing levels and the number of children using the service, access to community based activities has been limited.

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good

This is being addressed within the new development plan.

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good

Children have individual short break care plans. These include information in relation to promotion of their safety and wellbeing. Risk assessments identify risks that may be associated with a child’s complex needs. For example, where a child has limited or no verbal communication, their chosen communication method identifies how they reflect their feelings. This enables staff to understand the children and provide reassurance if children are showing any signs of anxiety or distress. These plans and risk assessments are reviewed verbally at each child’s stay to ensure there have been no changes to needs.

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good

Staff complete safeguarding training and are able to demonstrate a good understanding of the home’s safeguarding procedures. Further safeguarding training provided by the Local Authority Designated Officer regarding complaints, concerns, and allegations enables all staff to feel confident in following the agreed procedures to safeguard children.

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good

Children receive high levels of support and supervision to meet their individual needs. Although there have been no incidents of children missing from the home, discussions with staff demonstrated they are aware of the procedures to follow in the event of this occurring. However, individual risk assessments regarding the potential for young people to go missing are not in place to reflect the possibility of this happening either from the home or when accessing an activity within the community.

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good

The matching of children’s needs, abilities, and relationships with each other is taken into account when arranging their short breaks. This helps contribute to a positive overall experience when staying at the home.

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good

Positive behaviour is promoted through encouragement, praise, and interaction which enables children to develop confidence and skills to further their social development. The home does not use sanctions; these would not have any meaningful impact for the children. Physical intervention is also rarely used and only as a last resort to maintain safety. All staff undertake training in behaviour management and this is kept up to date to ensure their skills and practice remain current.

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good

Since the last inspection, there has been one complaint. The home responded to this appropriately and this has been resolved. Parents confirm they are aware of how to make a complaint and say if they have raised concerns in the past; staff and management have addressed them to ensure a satisfactory outcome.

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good

Recruitment and selection procedures are robust. This helps ensure staff employed to work with young people are suitable and safe to do so. Regular health and safety checks ensure the home provides a physically safe environment for the children receiving a short break service and the staff working within the home.

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good

The Registered Manager is suitably qualified and experienced, holding a diploma in social work. He has been registered with Ofsted from April 2007 and with the previous inspectorate prior to this date. Two deputy managers support the manager within his role.

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good

An experienced and knowledgeable staff team care for the children. Eleven of the fourteen staff hold an appropriate childcare qualification. The staffing levels at the home are, in the main, appropriate to meet the needs of the young people. However, there have been some occasions when staffing levels have not been sufficient and the service has had to rearrange some short break stays due to this. Although this has not compromised the safety of children, this has had an impact on continuity of care.

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good

All staff work cohesively to promote positive outcomes for young people. They have strong links with placing social workers and parents to ensure children have their needs met and are safe. Parents retain full parental responsibility. However, staff contribute to review meetings and are involved in meetings with schools and health care professionals to ensure the individual needs of children are met during their stay at the home. This is highly valued by parents who commented positively about the support and care the home provides to the children and also to families.

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good

The home has a detailed Statement of Purpose. This provides information about the aims and objectives of the home to enable parents, carers and placing social workers have an overview of the services the home provides. This document is reviewed as required to reflect any changes to the service. Information for children is in a children’s guide in both a written format and in a visual guide. However, this requires further updates to reflect changes within the building.

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good

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and needs of the home. Currently, a review of the service is taking place, in consultation with another local authority, to discuss the possibility of joining together to provide a service to children from both local authorities within the current home. At the time of the inspection, the service level agreement had not been finalised. However, meetings have been held with parents and staff to ensure an open and transparent exchange of information.

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good

Monthly independent monitoring of the home evaluates the care and support provided. A report following this visit enables the manager to take appropriate steps to address any shortfalls within agreed timescales. In addition, the manager also completes monthly monitoring of the home; this information forms the basis of a six- monthly evaluative report of the home. A copy of this report is provided to Ofsted in accordance with regulation, with the last one being received in April 2015.

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good

The home ensures information relating to children is stored securely to maintain confidentiality. Each child has a case file that provides an overview of their needs as identified in their care plan. Updated records reflect individual achievements and future plans. These are reviewed by the home in conjunction with parents, social workers and, where appropriate, other professionals to make sure they reflect current and future needs.

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good

The manager has addressed the requirements made at the previous inspection and is aware of the shortfalls identified during this inspection. However, these do not impact on the safety or outcomes for children at the home.

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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

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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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