Children's home run by Norfolk County Council

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 have a good understanding of the individual children’s needs, which helps them to provide effective individualised care.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff develop good relationships with children living in the home.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff encourage and support children to engage in their education. They push for the provision of appropriate education services for children.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff advocate for children to help them to access the services which meet their mental health and psychological needs.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Children learn skills that will help them to live independent lives as adults.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Children have opportunities for work experience and are encouraged and supported to look at further education.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff listen to children and help them to understand when their wishes and views cannot be met.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Staff work consistently as a team to provide clear boundaries for children. This in turn helps children to develop appropriate and acceptable behaviour.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 There is good leadership and management in the home. Staff appreciate the support which they receive from the manager. Social workers comment on his openness and work to meet children’s needs. They describe him as advocating for children.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 There is a generally experienced and well-qualified staff team. However, one member of staff has not yet completed his level 3 diploma and staff are not provided with some information or training that they require to help them fully meet children’s needs.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 There are strong working relationships between those in the home, other agencies and parents.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The registered manager monitors the operation of the home, but does not make full use of the views of children and staff.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 The statement of purpose is regularly reviewed, but not always fully adhered to in all areas.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Children live in a physically safe environment which mostly provides a nice place for children to live in. There are some areas which do require attention.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

 Risk assessments are used to make activities safer. However, the risk assessments for children are not consistently clear and informative.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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 with particular reference to the landing carpet and bath panel, the registered person must:

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Requirement Due date

2(c)(i) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. 31/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

12. The protection of children standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard with particular reference to having usable, comprehensive and accurate risk assessments, the registered person must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

2(a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the home is at all times 30/09/2016 conducted in a manner which is consistent with its statement of purpose. (Regulation 16(5))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure each individual who works in the home in a care role has by the relevant date attained—

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Requirement Due date

(a) the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England) (‘the level 3 diploma’); or

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Requirement Due date

(b) a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma. (Regulation 32(4)(a)(b)) 31/01/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provides for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children and staff. (Regulation 45(5)) 30/09/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. This is particularly in relation to working with children with Tourette’s and who self-harm. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides emergency and time-limited residential care placements for up to two children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is owned and operated by the local authority.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

07/01/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

26/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Since the previous inspection, this home has operated as a single occupancy home due to the needs of the children who have been living there at different times. This has enabled the staff and manager to gain a good understanding of the children and to provide individualised care. Staff quickly get to know the children’s needs and what they need to do in order to meet them. They develop good relationships with children, even when these are set against some very challenging behaviour. This has all contributed to placements in which children have made progress, although ultimately some have had to move on because their developing needs have been too great for the home to meet. This was the case for one child, but her social worker and independent reviewing officer both said that she was at her most settled while she was at the home.

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Good

Children do make progress in their education and health, based on their starting points and with the support of staff. For one child this included work with a tutor and properly organised (by an education professional in the local authority) online work. As she had had a period with no education provision at all before moving to the home, this marked progress for her and she engaged well with it. Staff helped her to think about and apply for a further education course. Staff and the manager were tenacious in pushing for appropriate education arrangements to be made for this child. As a result she has had a positive experience of education which will help her to re-engage in her education in her future placements. Similarly, there was a recognition that she needed some form of support to meet her mental health and psychological needs. This was pursued while she was at the home and she did begin to receive some appropriate support. In addition, staff worked with

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Good

her to try and help her to find strategies to manage her emotional well-being, for example, recognising at what times of day she struggled the most.

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Good

Despite some children having other predominant needs, staff help them to develop some independence skills that will help them in adulthood and in living independently in the future. For one child, reports by her social worker show her to have developed good self-care skills and show an improvement in her presentation while at the home. Staff have recently helped a child to become involved in work in a local charity shop. This helped her to gain work experience that will help prepare her for future employment. When children move into or out of the home, staff support them and help them with the emotional impact of these moves. Where possible, children visit the home before they move, sometimes with a parent. Children have opportunities to express their views and staff listen to these. This includes views over contact, choice of games and resources in the home. One child has been able to have a pet, which her social worker described as very therapeutic for

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Good

her. Children are able to take part in their looked after children reviews and regular key-work sessions with staff. When it is not possible or appropriate to respond to children’s views and wishes, staff explain this to them. They work well with parents to ensure that there are consistent messages, so that while children can express their views, they cannot dictate elements of their care which it is not appropriate for them to be in control of. Children’s areas of interest are known and where possible encouraged and supported. For one child this involved working with animals at a local welfare centre. This helps to ensure that there is adult-led care of children, but that they can influence their care and daily lives as far as is appropriate.

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Good

The home provides a physically safe place for children to live in. There had previously been significant delays in ensuring that all areas of the home’s fire risk assessment had been dealt with. A requirement was made about this at the previous inspection. The registered manager has chased the people responsible on a number of occasions and the work has now been completed. In addition to this there are regular checks of equipment and fire drills, so that children are well protected from the risk of fire in the home.

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Good

Risk assessments are used to help staff to think about how to keep children safe during activities including trips to the beach, train journeys and learning to ride a moped. The home’s location risk assessment is up to date and identifies risks and protective measures for children which are linked to the area in which the home is situated. These measures all help to protect children.

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Good

Notifications of significant events are recorded appropriately and sent to Ofsted. This allows Ofsted as the regulator to have an accurate overview of the home in between inspections.

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Good

The quality and effectiveness of children’s individual risk assessments varies. For a child previously placed at the home, her risk assessment was very long and overly descriptive of incidents that had occurred over a long period of time. It was 47 pages long and included descriptions of incidents from two placements beforehand. It had consistently been added to rather than reviewed. Some areas of risk, such as road safety, were not fully covered. This was not an easily useable document to inform staff of how to care for the child safely. The impact of this was limited to a degree as the home was at that time single occupancy and staff do develop a good understanding of the individual children they care for. The risk assessment for a child who has recently moved into the home is much better. It is clear and concise so that the information in it is easily available to staff. This provides better safeguards for the child and has the potential to help them become

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Good

There have not been any incidents of the previous two children going missing from the home. The child before this did go missing on a number of occasions. Staff responded appropriately to this, including identifying when there was cause for increased concern about the child’s vulnerability to exploitation. Staff liaised with the relevant agencies to assess and reduce this risk. Staff also understand the risks of children misusing the internet and social media. A placing social worker spoke of a good safety plan for her child to use the internet.

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Good

One child recently placed at the home showed some significant levels of violence and aggression towards staff. This resulted in a high level of police involvement. The child’s behaviour and involvement with the police was significant before she came to this home. Professionals from the youth offending team and the independent reviewing officer are clear that the levels of police involvement in this home were appropriate. The independent reviewing officer gave an example of when the good relationship with the local police had avoided the child being arrested for a lesser incident on one occasion. This approach has helped to provide clear messages to children about acceptable and unacceptable behaviour, both from staff as a team and from different agencies. Another social worker said that the staff work well as a team and hold good boundaries for children. In addition, they work effectively with parents and social workers to provide consistent care for

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Good

children in this home and when children are with their parents. This helps to reinforce clear boundaries which children can understand and to limit the chances of them finding and exploiting inconsistencies. It also helps children to develop appropriate and acceptable behaviour. There are very few incidents of staff using restraint and sanctions for children.

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Good

There is good leadership and management of the home. There is a registered manager who has been in post for five months. He is a qualified social worker with significant experience of working in a management role in residential care. He is due to begin his level 5 diploma in leadership and management within the next five months. His skills and experience are appropriate to his role. Staff are positive about his leadership, describing him as supportive and approachable. A social worker said that they found the registered manager to be a great manager, open and working hard to meet children’s needs. Another social worker said that the manager had really promoted a child’s needs and advocated for her. The registered manager and staff know the children who are placed in the home and this helps them to monitor their placements and progress. The manager provides regular supervision for staff which has a focus on their

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Good

practice and the children in the home. This helps to ensure the quality of care which children receive.

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Good

There is only one member of staff, who has been working at a children’s home for two years, who has not completed his level 3 diploma for residential childcare. He is currently working on it and due to finish in January 2017. All other staff at the home have completed this, providing an experienced and qualified workforce. Staff have opportunities for professional development and training. However, one child has moved into the home with some very specific needs, some of which are new to the staff team The registered manager has arranged training to help staff understand how to meet some of these needs, but not all staff have had self-harm training and so far the manager has not been able to identify training on Tourette’s Syndrome. He has not looked for other resources which he can use to inform staff until training becomes available, such as the child’s social worker. Consequently, staff are not fully supported to meet some of this child’s needs. Despite this, the

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Good

registered manager and staff team are working with the child’s parents to help them address what the parent describes as teething problems. This helps to ensure that the child’s needs are met as time goes on, but a more planned approach to informing staff would speed this up.

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Good

The registered manager has reviewed the home’s statement of purpose recently. However, there are some aspects of it which are not being fully adhered to. A child who moved into the home did not have a looked after child review within one month of their placement starting or before they moved to another home. Another child who moved into the home did not have their individual risk assessment available on their arrival as specified in the statement of purpose. While these appear to be exceptions, failure to adhere to the statement of purpose means that children do not always receive the consistent high level of care which the home sets out to provide.

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Good

The registered manager monitors the records and has a good knowledge of the children, which helps him to oversee the quality of care. There are independent visits to the home, which are much more robust and focused on children’s needs following a change of independent visitor. The reports on these visits show open dialogue with the registered manager about the operation of the home. The registered manager carries out monitoring, reviewing and evaluating of the quality of care provided in the home. The most recent report did not allow for the opinions of children and staff to be ascertained and considered, and so was not fully informed.

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Good

There are good working relationships with other agencies such as the youth offending team, placing social workers, the independent reviewing officer and children’s parents. This helps to provide joined up and consistent care that is more likely to meet children’s needs effectively. The registered manager has chased up others when they have been slow to provide services, so that children do not miss out.

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Good

Most areas of the home are suitably furnished and decorated to provide a pleasant place for children to live, play and enjoy themselves. However, there are two areas of the home which do not look nice. The landing carpet is very badly stained and the bath panel is damaged. This does reduce the overall quality of the environment.

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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 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 that 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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