Children's home run by Royal Mencap Society

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 and families have well-organised help and support to optimise well- being during their short breaks. Children enjoy the opportunity they to have fun outside of school and their families, to develop new skills and play.  Parents are very positive about the service. One parent said it ‘has been absolutely brilliant’. Another said, ‘It’s changed our lives.’  Placing authorities are also satisfied. Partnership working with families, schools and social workers is strong.  Staff have high levels of commitment and motivation. They have good opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills within this specialist learning disability organisation.  Good early identification of safeguarding concerns and good relationships with local disability and child protection services lead to safer care.  Some improvements are identified. These are largely related to aspects of leadership and management, such as ensuring that documentation and

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The children’s home provision is good because:

monitoring systems demonstrate the impact that the service is clearly having on the lives of children and their families.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact that the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report, including outcomes from consultation, should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that outcomes identified and progress made by children in building relationships and achieving socially acceptable behaviours can be recorded and measured. This relates to up-to-date goals and aims in support plans and evaluation of progress against those aims. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.4)  Ensure a safe and stimulating environment in high-quality buildings. Children should be given a choice about how their personal space is decorated. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.19)  Ensure that the home’s policies and procedures around the protection of children reflect any requirements of other relevant legislation. This also relates to the children missing from care policies. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.22)

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Recommendations

 Maintain good employment practice. The registered person must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  Ensure that the workforce development plan delivers the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33(4)(b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides short breaks/respite care for up to seven children and young people with learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities and complex needs. Occupancy is normally limited to five. The service is provided by a national charity that has a contract with the local authority. Twenty-six children currently use the service. Four were staying during this inspection.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

08/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

22/12/2014 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Children at this home continue to benefit from well planned and coordinated short- break care that is focused on their needs and those of their families. Children are predominantly placed by parents and the local authority as ‘children in need’, though four children have been accommodated under section 20 by the local authority this year. A parent said the service is, ‘Absolutely marvellous for giving parents a break.’

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Good

Tailored individualised care is based on comprehensive assessment, planning and review of children’s needs and aspirations. This process is done in partnership with the local authority, who commission this service, and with parents and care staff.

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Good

A range of education, health and social care plans give a holistic picture of children’s needs. In-house support plans vary in quality. Some are not fully updated to reflect current goals and aims or the progress that children are making. However, feedback from parents and the local authority makes clear that they are fully satisfied with the progress that the children make. One parent said that their child, ‘loves it, he feels it’s his time out’. They said he is increasingly, ‘independent, changed a lot’.

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Good

Staff and children have good, familiar relationships. A core of long-standing staff know children well and good-quality assessments mean that all staff have the information they need to develop constructive day-to-day care, in conjunction with parents. Good relationships with parents, schools, local specialist child health services and social workers means that children are at the centre of a helpful team who know them well and can meet their needs. Partner professionals and parents report easy communication. A parent said, ‘Staff are lovely.’

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Good

Children have fun when they visit for short breaks. A placing social worker said that ‘children are provided with opportunities to participate in a broad range of activity, from developing personal care to community-based skills, increasing autonomy.’ Safe outdoor play space and large play equipment mean that they can be active on adapted, large bicycles and swings. Outdoor playhouses provide ball pools and sensory space. A range of toys meets younger children’s developmental play needs. Staff and parents acknowledge the challenge of diverting older children from a focus on electronic games, tablets and videos. Planning a range of interesting toys and in-house activities to divert and engage older children can sometimes be a challenge for staff on busy shifts, or when children first arrive. Staff say that staffing levels meet children’s needs but do not always provide for enough administrative time or for individual activities off-site.

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Good

There is plenty of space inside. A maximum of seven children can stay, but the service rarely reaches this peak. The home is all on one level and has two identical wings, which staff and children can use freely, or which can be separated off to provide quieter space when needed. Adaptations in bathrooms and bedrooms in one wing meet the needs of children who are not completely mobile and use wheelchairs. One parent said of her son, ’‘He loves it and would go more.’

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Good

Staff promote children’s everyday decision-making and independence. They consult with them about who they want to care for them, and about how they want to be helped to take care of themselves. They are trained to use signs and pictorial symbols to communicate with children who do not use speech. One child, just arrived, lit up when he started communicating using signs with staff. This good level of respect for personal choice, likes and dislikes means that children look forward to coming. The manager has plans to further develop the regular one-to- one consultation sessions about children’s wider experience at the service. Plans are afoot for a wider approach to maximising opportunities for consultation and communication for all. Staff ensure a gradual, child-centred introduction to the home. Parents, brothers and sisters get a warm welcome at the home and also get good-quality information at the end of each stay, so they have a full picture. Staff also think and plan

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Good

carefully when children move on too. Excellent support and planning by staff meant a smooth move into permanent foster care for one child, who had needed a longer stay at the service. Staff advocate on behalf of children when they are concerned that children require an extra ‘voice’. They have successfully secured external advocacy when necessary. Staff are ready to contribute to the transition to adult services and offer full support. Parents and local authorities currently lead on this aspect.

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Good

Effective safeguarding arrangements protect children. Good planning, careful supervision and one-to-one staffing means that unnecessary risks in children’s behaviour, activities or in the environment are avoided. Children who may harm themselves are diverted to other activities, or protected by staff when necessary. Careful planning of which children stay when means that any conflict or unhappy groupings can be avoided. No child has gone missing because staff supervise them at all times. No child goes out alone. Doors to the street are locked, but children can move freely about the home, the kitchen and the garden, always with staff for company. Children are very vulnerable, by nature of their disabilities. Staff are acutely aware of this, through training and experience, and take their responsibilities seriously. They consult and coordinate with the placing authority and parents where they have concerns about bruising to children or when self-injurious behaviour escalates. This

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Good

prompt action keeps children safe. There have been no serious events that have required notification to Ofsted. An independent reviewing officer commented positively on the service’s comprehensive safeguarding perspective, evident in risk assessments and care planning.

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Good

Staff promote socially acceptable behaviour and give rewards and positive reinforcement to children. Support plans make clear the steps to take to reduce anxiety and avoid angry, unhappy behaviour. Regular conversations in supervision and at staff meetings ensure that any inconsistencies in how staff care for children or manage behaviour are sorted out at an early stage. Staff are trained and use minimal physical intervention. Their input with children is effective because it is based on good, friendly, respectful relationships.

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Good

Regular health and safety checks result in a safe working and living environment for staff and children. Parents are confident their children are safe in staff care.

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Requires improvement

Despite improvements in other aspects of the service, leadership and management require improvement. A permanent manager was appointed in March 2016. Her application to register has been protracted but is now under way. The manager has limited experience in the role, but is quickly developing skills and applying initiative. She is registered to complete her level 5 diploma in leadership and management of children’s residential care. The previous registered manager returned from maternity leave and cancelled her registration with Ofsted in May 2016. She continues as the deputy. This unusual arrangement provides consistency for staff, parents and children.

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Requires improvement

The new manager has strong, ‘hands on’ knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses in the service. The organisation’s electronic monitoring and tracking system is largely effective, but does not provide for managerial overview of patterns and trends in behavioural incidents and welfare concerns. The manager undertakes creative consultation with parents and children and has made plans for improvement. However, the intelligence and outcomes from this monitoring, consultation and planning, particularly relating to the progress that children make, is not reflected in the formal six-monthly report of the review of the quality of care that is shared with parents, placing authorities and Ofsted. This was a previous recommendation from the last inspection and the consolidation of quality review systems is now a priority for improvement.

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Requires improvement

Work to improve the quality of staff recording has not delivered the aspiration from the last inspection that records will better evidence the difference the service makes in children’s lives. The manager and staff understand each child’s starting point, but this is not effectively tracked through monitoring of children’s support plans and their achievements. The manager has already identified the need for consistent updates to, and implementation of, children’s plans and the need for better evidence to support progress, outcomes and impact.

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Requires improvement

Policy and procedure for safeguarding, including when children go missing, have been updated. However, these documents do not reference or signpost staff to current statutory guidance, such as ‘Working together to safeguard children’ and ‘Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care’. Staff vetting procedures are adequate, and meet regulation, but are not rigorous. For example, reference requests do not ask about applicants’ suitability to work with children, appointment records do not always show that criminal convictions and gaps in employment have been fully explored.

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Requires improvement

The environment requires improvement: children’s rooms are not attractively decorated. They are not currently personalised before each child’s stay unless children bring in their own possessions, which staff welcome. Walls are bare. Staff plan a fundraising event to enable better choice of furnishings and posters.

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Requires improvement

Staff are confident, experienced and skilled in their care practice. They speak with enthusiasm about their work with children. A local authority social worker described staff’s positive motivation: ‘The staff members that I have worked with have been both knowledgeable and professional.’ They are well supported; they feel well managed now. The organisation invests in additional specialist child- focused supervision by an external consultant for the manager, in addition to regular supervision by the organisation. However, formal professional supervision is not always up to date for all staff.

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Requires improvement

Good arrangements for staff induction, training and continuing professional development result in a team who can meet children’s needs. All staff who should have qualified have done so, or expect to complete the required level 3 qualification by December 2016. Training is linked to the service aims, around learning and physical disability. They prioritise communication skills and learning disability. Mental health training is planned and further work to promote total communication and use of more communication aids is under way. Effective links with NHS and school nursing services mean that staff are individually trained to deliver complex health tasks for specific children. No agency staff are used. The organisation has invested in a trained, fully recruited pool of committed relief staff to fill any gaps. These arrangements increase parents’ confidence in a consistent, tailored service for their children.

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Requires improvement

This ‘not for profit’ residential service puts children’s needs and experience at the centre of their decision-making. The manager has identified the following areas for service development: renewed focus on maximising children’s communication opportunities, and more active and earlier involvement in children’s transition from child to adult services. Parents report good consultation with them by the organisation. The manager challenges placing authorities when necessary to ensure that children are able to access the short-break service they need. She also works effectively with commissioners to discuss progress and improvements in children’s lives. One parent described the positive impact of the partnership arrangements: ‘That’s one thing the council have done very well for families like us.’

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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 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 0300 123 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

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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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