Children's home in Arun

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:

 Young people have made good progress from their initial starting points since arriving at the home.  Staff and young people have good relationships, which promote the progress that young people make.  Staff are positive and proactive in their approach with young people, seeking to find solutions and work through the challenges that they face. Staff are caring and nurturing in their approach with young people.  Young people are developing strategies which assist them to self-regulate and moderate their behaviour and emotions.  Staff support young people to develop life and social skills by offering a wide variety of activities and opportunities, with each young person supported to follow a key interest or hobby.  Young people report that they feel safe and have a key adult whom they trust and confide in.  Staff support young people to address their health needs, using referral to other agencies appropriately if required to meet specific needs. A strength of the

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The children's home provision is good because:

home is the quality of support provided to young people, assisting them to learn positive ways to manage their emotional well-being. Young people are beginning to explore and address worries and anxieties.  The therapeutic approach is a strength of the home, with all staff adhering to this approach across care and education. The organisation is accredited as a ‘community of communities’ by the Royal Society of Psychiatrists.  All young people attend full-time education, with each making good progress within their capabilities.  Staff receive regular effective supervision and access training which is varied and specific to their role.

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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

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home (Regulation 23 (1)). 01/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using systems that are designed to ensure children’s safety, including obtaining full and satisfactory information in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2: specifically ensure references are verified (Regulation 32 (1) and (3)(d)). 01/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify Ofsted without delay of all matters outlined in this regulation (Regulation 40 (4)). 01/11/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Homes are required to develop and keep under review a ‘statement of purpose’ (Regulation 16 and schedule 10). The home's statement of purpose should be child-focused, indicating how the home provides individualised care to meet the quality standards for the children in their care. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', pages 14 and 15, paragraph 3.5)As set out in Regulation 31–33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management 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)

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to care for four young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is recognised by a national organisation as a provider of therapeutic care. Young people living at the home attend the organisation’s own school.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 07/03/2016 Full Outstanding 11/05/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/01/2015 Full Outstanding 27/10/2014 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people have made good progress since their arrival at the home. They are exploring and learning positive ways to self-regulate and manage their feelings and emotions. Staff provide high levels of support and care, enabling young people to have constant opportunity to talk and share concerns and worries with staff. Staff are open and honest with young people, encouraging them to label their feelings and emotions while learning positive manageable ways to express themselves. A strength of the home is the support that staff provide to young people, assisting them to explore their feelings and emotions. The therapeutic approach provided creates supported transitions between education and care settings. It provides a seamless approach, with all staff working within the home’s therapeutic framework. Staff tell young people why they think they are behaving the way they are, exploring possible reasons and triggers for their behaviour. Young people are learn

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Good

to engage effectively with this support. This is also allowing them to explore strategies and other ways to express themselves in safely. Young people are able to cope with new situations and experiences, where previously they would have struggled. The therapeutic approach provides structure, routine and boundaries that enable young people to feel safe and be able to explore their individual circumstances and experiences. Young people are learning how to manage their previous experiences and traumas in safe ways. Young people have developed robust relationships with link workers through regular link sessions. Young people have noticeable positive relationships with their link workers seeking them out for essential support and care. The link worker relationship is an essential element to the care provided to young people in the home. Link workers support young people with key activities, which they may find

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Good

challenging or difficult. Link workers have detailed knowledge of their young person and are the main point of contact for them. Young people trust their link workers and this trust enables them to cope with specific activities that they are worried or anxious about; this results in positive progress. Detailed placement plans focus on therapeutic needs while providing practical strategies and guidance to staff. Plans are reviewed, updated and amended as required. Safety plans and risk assessments provide clarity and practical strategies to staff to support young people in meeting their needs. Staff have formulated a summary of their placement plans, providing a quick description and profile of a young person’s needs and risk factors. All young people are accessing full-time education and are making progress within their individual capabilities. The relationships between education and care are robust with daily handover and sharing of key information. There is a consistent

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Good

approach applied to young people across both settings. All young people are encouraged to attend and engage in activities outside of the home, developing networks and friendships within their areas of interest. Young people attend and engage in local community voluntary groups and services. Staff offer young people a daily programme of activities which provide them with new experiences and opportunities that develop their skills. Young people are encouraged and supported to develop independence, social and personal care skills. Staff support young people to address their basic health needs, with referral for specialist assessment and intervention when required. Staff work closely with specialist medics to support young people to meet their emotional well-being needs. Young people access all of the local services in the community to address their basic needs. Staff provide structure and support young people on planned contact days through

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Good

an ‘adult day’. This is a day when young people spend the day mainly with their key member of staff. This ensures that the young person has the time and space to explore their thoughts, worries and excitement with the staff member in a supportive way, preparing, supporting and closely monitoring the impact of contact with family members on the young person. They support and facilitate face-to-face contact visits and request review when required. Staff ensure that the voice and views of young people are heard. Each day there is a house meeting and a get together. During these, young people are given choices about key aspects of the home including menu choices, activities and preparing young people for future events in the home. Young people have been involved in making decisions about community celebrations and aspects of decoration. Staff seek young people’s views through questionnaires completed prior to planning and

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Good

review meetings about care plans. Young people are supported to work through situations of conflict with ‘hurt meetings’. A positive way to explore how people feel and how things can improve or change. Staff apply a restorative approach to conflict in the home, using a rebuild and restore approach to affected relationships. Staff provide support and education, which promotes young people’s ability to transition from the home. For one young person there are plans to transition to the sister home where the focus of care is to develop independence and prepare for adulthood. There is a plan in place to move the home to a new location. This has been identified as a more appropriate setting and it is closer to the organisation’s sister home. Currently, the peers across the homes attend and engage in some activities together as well as spending time together during the community’s celebrations. Due to the planned move, aspects of decoration and improvement have been

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Good

delayed and some areas in the home are now poorly presented. Judgement grade

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Good

Young people live in a safe and secure environment, stating that they each have a key adult that they trust and confide in. The therapeutic approach in the home enables young people to talk openly about how they feel. Young people and staff have good, open and honest relationships with daily opportunities to talk and share worries and anxieties with staff. Staff are skilled, knowledgeable and have good insight and understanding about what is required to keep young people safe. Young people have high levels of supervision throughout the day. Due to this, they access structure and routine and rarely engage in risk-taking behaviours. Young people are nervous and fearful about activities away from the support and structure of the home. Staff are working to develop these skills and consistently encourage young people to access age-appropriate activities. Episodes of going missing are well managed, staff follow the individual plan and

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Good

strategies with a coordinated approach and referral to others as required. Staff welcome young people back into the home following a period of going missing. No young person has identified risks associated with child sexual exploitation. Staff have considered all risk factors within going missing plans and risk assessments. Young people are supported to self-regulate and manage their behaviours, feelings and emotions. Staff are trained in the home’s preferred method of behaviour management, with plans in place to ensure that all staff access refresher training in the coming months. Each young person has a behaviour support plan, which details triggers, behaviour and strategies and actions required to support young people. Incidents of physical intervention are recorded, reported and evaluated. Post incident, young people are encouraged to reflect, review and explore alternative ways of managing their behaviours. Staff support them to explore the

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Good

impact of their actions on others and consider how to repair relationships. Staff record and detail any sanctions given; these are thought through and aim to link to the trigger or cause. When a financial sanction has been applied, the records clearly detail the total cost of the sanction and how this will be collected. When an early settling time has been given, the records do not specify the exact length of time that the sanction was given. Monitoring and evaluation is hindered by this and it cannot easily be ascertained if the sanction is fair and proportionate. Staff use a reward system to celebrate young people’s big and small achievements. Young people collect rewards points with individual targets and goals to achieve. Young people are collecting their rewards to buy key things on their wish list, an example of this is bicycle lights. The system is having a positive impact on behaviour, with young people working hard to achieve their goals.

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Good

Staff provide clear boundaries, expectation and are a role model for expected behaviour within the home. Staff encourage young people to make positive choices and decisions when they are able. When young people are experiencing high levels of anxiety, staff provide a staff-led day to young people, which dedicates a staff member to that young person for the day, offering focused one-to-one time. This offers a supportive day in which the young person can fully utilise the member of staff and access one-to-one time to provide the space to self-regulate and manage their emotions and feelings. Leaders and managers complete pre-admission assessments, which highlight and assess key needs and risk factors. Placement plans are considered and formulated prior to receiving an admission. Leaders and managers have decided to review their admission process. This was following two placements breaking down in their

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Good

infancy. Staff have explored the factors which contributed to the placement failures and what is required to avoid repetition in the future. Risk assessments address known risks and identify what is required to minimise and reduce risk. Young people are encouraged to develop age-appropriate risk taking. Regular review of plans occurs, ensuring that the balance of opportunity and risk is safe and supportive to the young person. Young people are supported to explore and address conflict in the home. Daily ‘get togethers’ and ‘house meetings’ provide a safe space for young people to explore their feelings and consider ways of improving relationships with peers. Leaders and managers have good relationships with the local safeguarding board, with staff accessing training opportunities which they provide. Staff have regular, effective communication, exploring and discussing issues to arrive at a shared perspective.

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Good

Managers have explored and investigated complaints. Records show the detail of the investigation and response to the complainant. The written records in the home are a reference to more detailed records held elsewhere. These records lack clarity and detail. There have been no allegations made against staff since the last inspection. Staff have clear policy and procedure to follow if the need arises. Staff store medication in an adult area. During the inspection, the medication cupboard was unlocked, with the key left in the door. Currently, young people do receive regular medication. Staff have a supply of homely remedies in the home, which were not stored securely in the medication cupboard. The home has a system for administering medication when required. Staff did not follow the home’s policy and procedure for storage of medication.

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Good

A home manager who has regular support and input from the registered manager effectively manages the home. The registered manager is heavily involved in the running of the home and is a regular visitor to the home, with an overview of the home and the quality of care provided. The home manager and registered manager have good knowledge and understanding of the needs of the young people in their care. The statement of purpose for the home is a very detailed, organisational document. It does not have individual focus on the home. It is lacking detail about how wishes and feelings of young people will be sought. It also does not describe the facilities and services offered by the home. Staff work within the home’s ethos and approach, supporting and providing a therapeutic caring environment for young people. The home is providing a high standard of therapeutic care to the young people. The organisation that manages

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Good

the home is accredited as a ‘community of communities’ by the Royal Society of Psychiatrists. All staff access regular, effective practice-related supervision and clinical supervision each month. Staff access weekly team training and reflective sessions, specific role-focused training is also available to staff. Staff have recently updated their first aid training. Newly inducted staff complete a wide variety of online training, which includes a safeguarding module among other key essential modules. The manager has plans to provide training around radicalisation and child sexual exploitation to the staff team. Staff have the required qualification or are enrolled to complete it. Leaders and managers have a variety of systems and processes in place to monitor and evaluate the quality of care provided in the home. They act on areas identified via the robust monthly independent visits to the home. There has been a recent

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Good

lapse in monitoring and evaluation this month due to a challenging and demanding period in the home. Staff concluded that all staff support was required to support young people. They have plans in place to address the gaps that have arisen over the month. The home manager regularly provides updates and reviews to the registered manager. The home’s development plan identifies key areas of improvement planned and dates by which to achieve these goals. Staff have not completed all required notifications to Ofsted following serious incidents which have occurred. They do not have systems in place for staff to follow if such incidents occur and the nominated person is not available to complete the notification. The home has been through a period of significant challenge, demands have put a strain on resources and aspects of record keeping have lapsed. The period of challenge has now subsided and leaders and managers have plans in place to

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Good

addresses these issues. The home is in need of update and repair. Leaders and managers have plans to relocate the home and so have delayed the completion of all non-essential aspects of repair or improvement. Managers have good links with those outside of the home including professional organisations, local resources and voluntary groups. Leaders and managers have challenged others advocating on behalf of young people. They aim to have robust effective relationships with those outside of the home. They ensure that the whole network around the young person works collectively and collaboratively. This has included making an appropriate challenge to an agency that has not delivered a sufficiently good service to a young person. Leaders and managers have systems in place to meet the required standard for safer recruitment. Leaders and managers did not follow the home’s policy with regard to some aspects of recruitment. Evidence is lacking to show that sufficient

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Good

references have been requested, received and verified.

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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 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 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

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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