Children's Home run by Benjamin UK Ltd in Bedford

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 individual needs of the children and are committed to working with them.  Staff recognise the importance of celebrating children’s achievements.  The children take pride in their home and are involved in choosing the décor and personalising their rooms.  There is a wide variety of activities in the home and community and children are supported to follow their hobbies and interests.  Staff understand the importance of contact for children and families, and they facilitate this.  Education is seen as an important part of children’s lives and the staff have good communication with education providers.  Children say that they like living in the home and that staff listen to and help them.  Staff challenge children’s negative behaviours and discuss these in key- work sessions, but some records are not a good reflection of the work undertaken.  There are good placement plans in place, but children do not have the

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The children’s home provision is good because:

opportunity to comment on or sign these.

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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

In order to meet the care planning standard with particular reference to records in the home, the registered provider must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(2) (f) help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. 29/09/16

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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 that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and accommodates up to four young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

24/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

The children have built good relationships with a staff team that knows and understands them and supports them to progress. A child commented: ‘I like the staff; they do things with you and they are fun to be with.’ Another said: ‘I have been upset before and staff just came up and gave me a hug and tried to sort things out, which they usually do.’

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Good

The children have begun to make good progress while living in the home. An external professional said: ‘He has made considerable progress since being in the home.’ A parent said that she had seen an improvement in her son’s self-esteem and confidence.

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Good

Staff understand the importance of education and actively encourage and support the children to attend. The two children who attend school have excellent attendance. The staff communicate with schools regularly and attend all relevant meetings. One child said: ‘If I have homework, staff will help me if I want.’ For two older children, staff have geared a timetable to suit their interests and talents and have brought in additional resources, such as a music tutor. Social workers recognise the impact the home has on children’s education. One said: ‘He has not had any education for some time, so this is good progress.’ The staff have supported young people in applying for college placements to start in the new academic year.

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Good

Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the children, the reasons why they are in care and what their current needs are. A child spoken to said that he knew why he was in care.

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Good

Children have weekly incentives and receive extra incentives as they progress. Staff celebrate children’s achievements as they move up the levels of their incentive programme. A child was proud to say that he was now on ‘Diamond’, which is the top level. This helps to focus and motivate children to achieve and reinforces to the children that staff value their achievements.

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Good

Staff complete books for the children containing photographs of activities and celebrations such as birthdays or building camps. This means that children will have positive memories of their time in the home to take with them when they leave.

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Good

Children’s healthcare needs are promoted. They are all registered with the local doctor, dentist and opticians. The therapist offers weekly sessions with the children. He spends a day a week in the home so that children can begin to build relationships, and he often completes sessions while collecting the children for their appointment, as this feels less structured and they find it easier to engage.

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Good

Staff understand the importance of young people having a wide variety of activities, both in the home and in the community, to help them develop their self- esteem and social skills. One child attends cadet training and was very proud when he got his uniform. A child commented: ‘I was in a football club. I did not like it so the staff are helping me find another one.’ A social worker said: ‘Staff support him with hobbies and interests which are important to him.’

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Good

Staff understand the importance of children building and maintaining positive friendships in the community. In consultation with parents and social workers, children have been able to stay overnight with friends and to go on holiday with them. Staff complete reasonable checks to ensure that children are safeguarded. A parent said: ‘He is able to continue to spend time with his old friends from home who have a positive influence.’

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Good

There are regular residents’ meeting. Owing to children’s commitments, they cannot always attend together, but staff ensure that they still receive children’s views about the running of the home and any issues or items that they want purchased for the home. Requests are discussed in staff meetings and feedback is given to the children. They have recently requested a paddling pool and trampoline, which the manager is in the process of purchasing.

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Good

Staff understand the importance of contact, both for the children and their families. They support and facilitate this to happen in line with the placing authority’s care plan. For families living a distance away, the home will put families up in a local hotel and pay for this. This means that children can have good-quality, meaningful contact. The therapist also offers sessions to parents to support them in building and maintaining relationships. One parent said that they had found this to be supportive.

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Good

Children are supported and encouraged to develop their independence in line with their care plan, age, ability and understanding. Two children have just started to receive a budget, which they use to purchase and cook their meals and complete their own laundry. Staff work with them around menu planning and eating healthily. They will begin to complete an independence workbook, to support them in learning the skills they need to be independent when they leave the home.

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Good

The home is in a rural location. It is bright, spacious and decorated to a high standard. A parent said: ‘I am impressed with the standard of the accommodation and he can aspire to this standard of living in the future.’ The children take pride in the home and are consulted when new furniture is to be purchased. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms. The children have individualised placement plans, which support staff in working with them on all aspects of their daily lives. These are regularly reviewed and updated. However, it can be difficult to see which is still relevant as the plan is added to but old entries are not removed. There is no evidence that children or social workers read and sign to say that they are in agreement with the plan.

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Good

The children have regular key-work sessions. Staff talk to them about behaviours, incidents and day-to-day issues. Children are encouraged to talk about things that are concerning them. Staff use these discussions as a way of recognising achievements and positive things the children have accomplished. However, due to the new computer system, staff are recording these in different places. While some records are well detailed, some are not very informative, which could make it difficult if staff or children wish to return to the session later.

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Good

Children know how to make a complaint and they feel listened to. During the inspection a child said: ‘I would ask for a complaints form, but I just talk to my key worker and she sorts it out.’ Another said: ‘We can always bring things up in residents’ meetings if we want.’ The staff are currently supporting a child who has made a complaint about his social worker. The manager is proactive in challenging professionals if he feels that children are not getting a good service or the support that they should be receiving.

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Good

Staff challenge unwanted behaviours appropriately and will follow these up as key work or reflective conversations. One parent said: ‘They stick to boundaries and teach him to take responsibility for his actions’ and a social worker said: ‘Staff have provided consistency, which has helped to manage and turn his behaviour around.’

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Good

There has only been one physical intervention since the last full inspection. This was recorded appropriately and the child was debriefed afterwards, he said that he only wanted to be held by female staff as this helped him to calm down quicker. The manager has added this to his behaviour plan and risk assessment. This shows that staff listen to and act on the children’s wishes and feelings.

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Good

Comprehensive risk assessments are in place covering the home and community. These are regularly reviewed and updated when necessary. Risks that are no longer relevant are removed, in consultation with the social worker, so as not to label children.

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Good

Sanctions are fair and proportionate. Staff were recording sanctions in a book and children were able to discuss this, sign it and comment. However, since this was moved to the new computer system, although the majority of sanctions are being discussed, children cannot comment on them or sign to say that they are in agreement with them. This means that children’s views are not clearly documented.

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Good

Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding and have attended the relevant training and they understand the home’s whistle-blowing policy. Staff are aware of the risks the internet can pose and there are filters in place. This helps them to be vigilant, which contributes to keeping children safe.

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Good

The home has good links with the police, who have recently begun to conduct safe and well assessments when young people return to the home after going missing. They have also contributed to the area risk assessment. The manager reports any concerns to the designated officer for safeguarding in the local authority. There is good communication between the home and the local safeguarding team and the manager follows recommendations and actions, to promote children’s safety.

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Good

All medication is stored and recorded appropriately. During a monitoring check, the manager became aware that not all staff were following the home’s policy of two staff signing off medication. He arranged medication refresher training for all staff. This has not been an issue since and shows that the manager is proactive in his monitoring.

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Good

The registered manager has been in post since 2010, holds the national vocational qualification (NVQ) registered manager’s award, and is working towards the level 5 qualification and a master’s degree in cognitive therapy.

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Good

Managers have a clear vision for the home. They recognise the strengths and areas they wish to develop. They are committed to improving outcomes for the children they care for, and listen to and act on suggestions made by them. Staff clearly see the home as the children’s home and encourage them to contribute to the running of the home. Staff receive regular supervision. A new member of staff said: ‘I have supervision every two weeks, which supports me with working with the children.’ Another commented: ‘I find that supervisions are reflective and support my development.’ Appraisals are up to date and staff regularly review their development plan with the manager. This ensures that effective practice underpins children’s care.

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Good

Staff have completed their mandatory training as well as training provided by the therapist such as training in understanding attachment. All staff have or are in the process of completing the NVQ.

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Good

The manager has a good understanding of the children’s current needs and future plans. Professionals spoken to say that he is supportive of the children and that communication is good.

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Good

Staff meetings are regular and give staff the opportunity to discuss the children, activities and care practice issues. The therapist also attends these, which staff report supports them in working with the children and managing their behaviours.

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Good

Recruitment is robust. Gaps in employment are checked at interview and all checks are completed and verified before staff can begin to work in the home. A child is involved in interviewing staff. Staff report that he has worked hard to learn the skills of interviewing and this has helped his confidence. The therapist is also involved with the interviewing process.

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Good

The home rarely uses agency staff and has a core of bank staff made up of staff who have previously worked in the home. There is a robust induction programme in place, which staff complete to form part of their probation.

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Good

There are effective monitoring checks in place, which are completed by the manager. A new computer system is in place to enable the production of individual graphs to show patterns, trends and the progression of 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 the ‘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 whom 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 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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