Children's home in North Devon

Requires improvement

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 The registered manager does not yet have an established system in place for monitoring and reviewing the quality of care in the home. Some systems of monitoring and overview are now in place following the requirement made at the previous inspection, but this remains a work in progress.  The young person’s placement plan is out of date and does not clearly document the aims and targets of his placement, strategies to help him achieve these, and what progress he has made.  The manager and staff have not risk assessed and put control measures in place in relation to the young person’s attempts to smoke in his bedroom and his disabling of the smoke alarm.  Staff are not always taking effective action to help the young person to keep his room tidy and well maintained, in particular, ensuring that he always has a sheet on his bed.  Staff have not compiled a memory box, where photographs and items relating to the young person’s stay in the home can be stored, for the young

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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

person to take with him when he leaves the home.  The young person is not receiving effective help from staff that will educate him about bullying others and to help him to learn empathy with those who are bullied.  Records of restraint and sanctions do not always detail the young person’s views about incidents of restraint or sanctions given to him by staff.

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The children’s home strengths

 The young person feels safe living in the home. He is making progress from his starting point and has formed trusting relationships with staff. The staff take effective action if there are any safeguarding issues, to ensure the safety of the young person.  The staff communicate effectively with parents and other agencies such as the school and the police. Parents comment positively about how staff keep them up to date and support them during the young person’s home visits, in preparation for his transition back to the family home.  A full staff team made up of staff of both genders is now in place. They receive regular supervision and comprehensive training, and comment positively about the manager’s leadership and support.  The staff listen to the young person’s views and wishes and act upon them whenever possible. The young person has developed a sense of belonging at the home, although he is looking forward to returning to live with his

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The children’s home strengths

family in the next 12 months as part of an effective transition plan.

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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

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home; in particular, to evidence how the manager’s oversight and recording are consistently being used to improve practice and identify shortfalls. (Regulation 13(2)(h)) 28/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard requires the registered person to ensure that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, to make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; in particular that a risk assessment is undertaken in relation to the young person smoking in his bedroom and that effective control measures are put in place. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i)) 23/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children receive effective planned care in the children’s home; in particular that the child’s plan details aims and targets and that progress is documented. (Regulation 14(1)(a)) 23/09/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the child; it will be a homely and domestic environment. This relates to ensuring that the young person’s bedroom is clean and tidy and any damage is promptly repaired. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, para. 10.6)  ensure that staff understand what they must do to prevent bullying of children by other children. Staff should be able to address and recognise different types of abuse, such as peer abuse, and have the skills required to intervene, protect and address bullying behaviours effectively. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, para. 8.16)  ensure that children are regularly consulted on their views about the home’s

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Recommendations

care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided; in particular that feedback from the young person is documented and acted upon in the records of restraint and sanctions. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, para. 4.11)

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Information about this children's home

The home is operated by a private provider. The home provides care and accommodation for one young person.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

03/02/2016 CH - Interim Declined effectiveness

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Requires improvement

The care needs of the young person are not clearly documented in an up-to-date plan that details how these needs will be met, and the plan does not detail the aims and targets of the placement. Evidence of progress made by the young person is contained in various sources, but is hard to find in order to gain a holistic view of what progress he is making and in what areas he still needs support. Clearly documented strategies are not available in plans to ensure that staff are consistent in their care and support for the young person and meet his identified care needs.

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Requires improvement

Recent decoration means that the home now offers a homely and well-decorated appearance in most areas. The one exception is the young person’s bedroom, which is very untidy and has areas of damage. The young person’s bed has no sheet as the young person refuses to tolerate one on the bed. Documented strategies are not in place to manage this unhygienic issue or to offer regular support to the young person to value his bedroom and learn that he deserves a tidy and well-decorated personal space.

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Requires improvement

The young person has achieved a sense of belonging at the home. He is fully involved in choosing new carpets and furniture. His wishes and views are gathered in one-to-one meetings. These are always acted upon unless it is not appropriate to do so. If this is the case, then the reasons why his wishes cannot be acted upon are explained to him by staff. Staff understand that his family and culture are very important to him. To meet this need, staff ensure that he has regular contact with his family, visits places of interest in his home county and is able to keep small pets at the home.

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Requires improvement

Relationships between the staff and the young person are generally positive. The young person described the staff as ‘a good laugh’ and ‘very all right’. The staff offer nurturing care to the young person. For example, they will run a bath for him, reassure him if he is worried at night and deal with incidents of challenging behaviour in a sensitive and empathic manner. The staff realise that a confrontational approach will not be effective with this young person and so use strategies such as appropriate humour and distraction to support him in managing his own behaviour.

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Requires improvement

The young person is engaging in education and making progress. This is positive, as prior to coming to the home, he refused to engage in any education. His attendance at school was 94% prior to the summer term, at which point he began associating with another young person and engaged in negative behaviours. One of these behaviours was refusing to attend school regularly. His attendance then dipped to 74%. This term, he has re-engaged with education and is now regularly attending. He is making progress academically and is entered to sit examinations later in the year.

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Requires improvement

The young person’s healthcare needs are met at the home. The manager has successfully made a referral to local mental healthcare services and the young person now has an appointment. This follows some incidents of minor self-harming behaviours by the young person. Staff are trained to deal with and manage these incidents. The staff are actively encouraging the young person to eat healthily and are closely monitoring his intake of junk food and offering healthy alternatives.

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Requires improvement

The young person is making progress and his behaviour has stabilised, meeting the aims of the placement. As a result, a transition plan is now in place so that the young person can return to his family when his examinations are completed next year. The staff are successfully working closely with his family to increase the time he spends at home each week and are currently working towards overnight stays. The young person’s mother is very positive about the placement. She said: ‘It’s going brilliantly for my son. There is good communication; they let us know what is happening. They are polite and easy to talk to. My son is settled and they keep him safe. He is not doing any silly things like he did at the other place. I have no concerns.’ Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The young person decided in the week before the inspection that he did not wish to go outside in the designated smoking area in the home any longer, but wished to smoke in his bedroom. He has dismantled the smoke alarm and it was observed during the inspection that there was an ashtray with cigarette butts present in the young person’s bedroom. Staff reported that they try to dissuade him from engaging in this behaviour but he is refusing to comply. Guidance and control measures that are documented in an assessment of this risk are not available to staff.

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Requires improvement

The views of the young person are not always recorded in records of restraint and sanctions following a physical restraint or sanction. The young person reported that staff do ask whether he needs medical attention and that he is asked for his views following an incident.

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Requires improvement

Staff do not offer the young person education and guidance regarding the issue of bullying. This means that the young person is not able to learn empathy about how it feels to be bullied, or to discuss why he feels the need to bully others and to address this behaviour.

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Requires improvement

The young person reported that he feels safe living in the home and he is confident that the staff will keep him safe. A parent of the young person is confident that he is kept safe at the home and is positive about the success that staff have had in reducing his risk-taking behaviours. The staff take effective action should they have any safeguarding concerns and reported that they feel confident about what action they should take and to whom they should report any concerns. A recent increase in staffing agreed by the placing authority means that individual staff members are no longer working alone with the young person, to ensure the safety of the young person and the staff.

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Requires improvement

Incidents of going missing from home, restraint and the implementation of sanctions have reduced. This is mainly due to the young person no longer socialising with another young person who was living in the children’s home next door. During this association, staff struggled to manage risk-taking behaviours and called the police on some occasions to assist them in order to keep the young person and themselves safe. Effective action was taken by the provider to manage this situation and the other young person was moved out of the area. Since this time, the young person’s behaviour has stabilised.

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Requires improvement

Staff are recruited through a robust recruitment policy and procedure that helps to ensure that only suitable people are employed at the home. Staff confirmed that they are expected to provide proof of address and identification and to explain any gaps in their previous employment.

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Requires improvement

A requirement was made at the previous inspection in relation to the absence of a robust system of quality monitoring in the home. The registered manager has taken some action to implement a system of oversight of records and systems but this remains a work in progress and is not yet established. The registered manager has not yet produced a detailed development plan that details the home’s strengths and areas for development within set timescales. This requirement is therefore repeated.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is nearing completion of his level 5 management qualification and is experienced in the management and care of young people.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is currently seeking alternative premises as the landlord for the current premises has given notice. The young person is being kept fully informed about the impending move and said that he is not worried as the new house will be near to this one and he will learn about how to move house.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has updated the home’s statement of purpose. This document now contains up-to-date information and is individualised for this home. It now contains details of the newly recruited members of staff.

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Requires improvement

The young person has made progress, educationally, socially and emotionally, from his starting point. The manager and staff succeed in providing a long-term and stable placement. Before he arrived at the home, the young person had a succession of disruptions of placements and multiple moves.

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Requires improvement

A successful recruitment procedure means that the home is now fully staffed, so the manager is no longer having to supplement the rota himself or with agency staff, leaving him with more management time. Staff of both genders are now in place, so the young person now has both male and female role models. All staff are either qualified to level 3 in childcare, or are enrolled on the level 3 qualification. Staff reported that they are happy working at the home and feel well supported and well led by the manager, whom they find very approachable and knowledgeable. Staff reported that they feel well trained, and the training matrix evidences that all staff receive mandatory training in topics such as safeguarding, restraint, first aid and food hygiene. Additional training is offered to staff in the management of self- harm and drug and alcohol misuse. Staff receive regular supervision that is comprehensive and addresses any training needs or concerns that staff may have.

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Requires improvement

Two members of staff are missing a supervision session from last month, but the manager has plans to address this shortfall this month.

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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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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