Children's home run by Hertfordshire County Council in Dacorum

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 make exceptional progress in the home and they are each benefiting from the consistency of care that they receive.  Staff consult with the children for their views on the running of the home including the decor and furnishings.  Children achieve high levels of attendance in education. This is encouraging the children to start to think about their future and careers.  The manager offers clear, structured guidance in a calm and responsive way. Staff indicate that they find this very supportive.  Professionals report that the manager and staff team actively advocate for the children.  Feedback from a parent and professionals was positive about the care that the children receive.  The staff expertly use their rapport with the children to minimise the levels of challenging behaviour and missing from home episodes.  The manager leads the team in a confident and approachable way and ensures that this approach is mirrored with their work with the children.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The training matrix demonstrates that a number of staff require updated refresher courses.

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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. In particular, ensure that all staff undertake the required refresher courses as identified on the home’s training matrix. (‘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 local authority home provides care and accommodation for up to five children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties, aged 11 to 18 years.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 25/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 23/11/2015 Full Good 29/07/2014 Full Adequate 06/06/2014 Full Inadequate

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Good

There are four children living at the home. Each of the children can, at times, demonstrate very challenging behaviour. Staff work positively with each of the children to reduce the level of these behaviours. This has resulted in children successfully increasing their school attendance, increased positive contact with their families and ensured that the children feel settled and at home. The children have behaviour management plans that indicate triggers that precede some of the challenging behaviour. This knowledge of the children assists staff with using the agreed strategies to divert the children into alternative activities. Children are encouraged and supported to attend education. Three children are enrolled at local schools. One child is currently refusing to attend. Staff engage her in education activities. Staff are negotiating a more vocational programme of education for her. The two children attending school achieve high attendance of

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Good

over 89%. This is commendable as the children arrived with poor attendance levels. One child is particularly motivated to attend school by the visual changes in the charts of his attendance. He has recently received a certificate from school for an excellent piece of work. This was the first time that he had ever received a commendation from school. Children are supported to recognise the importance of education and the part that it will play in helping to shape their futures. Since the last inspection, the team have supported one child during her pregnancy. The child remained in education and completed and passed her GCSEs. The link worker from the home continues to see the mother and baby on an outreach basis. This demonstrates the level of commitment that staff have shown both to the child during her pregnancy and to her baby prior to and since birth. The layout of the premises provides the children with ample space. The staff and

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Good

children are involved in selecting furniture and soft furnishings. All children have en-suite bedrooms and are encouraged to personalise their rooms. This gives the house a homely feel. One child represents the home on a Children in Care Council and she has been nominated for a looked after child award. This evidences that children are encouraged to have a say in the running of the home and are aware of how to raise and escalate their views and concerns. The children and staff have a good rapport which is evident in their general interactions and how they speak with each other. These ranged from being jovial to being very serious as the situations required. Each of the children demonstrated the ability to discuss and agree periods of free time to meet friends. This allows the children to take age-appropriate responsibility for themselves and earn increased levels of trust. A child due to move in at the weekend was visiting for the evening. Staff had

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Good

cooked her favourite meal. She was happily chatting in the lounge with the other children and staff about her likes and dislikes and later participated in the family- like mealtime. It was evident that this additional visit had been arranged to assist her with the transition into the home. It was also of benefit for those already living at the home as it meant that they were getting to know her prior to her moving in with them. A child who had expressed concern about another female moving in later said, ‘I am less worried now I have met her.’ This shows that the home understands the importance of managing transitions in a child-focused way. Children agree monthly targets with their link workers. These are aimed at achieving and improving areas of development detailed in their placement and care plans. Each week, the child and link worker independently score the progress made towards meeting targets. This ensures that there are regular discussions about

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Good

progress and allows for any issues impacting on progress to be identified. Children are assessed against the Children's Global Assessment Scale (CGAS). Each of the children has shown an increase in their score. One child’s score has improved so significantly that it identifies that there is now only one area of concern. This level of improvement demonstrates that children benefit both emotionally and socially from having stable and consistent boundaries and expectations. A psychologist visits the home weekly. He meets with staff and assists them in developing strategies to address the children’s presenting behaviours. He has also conducted direct family work that enabled a child to build a better relationship with her family and supported the continuation of the placement. Senior managers are exploring further ways for children to directly benefit from the therapeutic input.

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Good

The home conducts a pre-admission compatibility risk profile. This details any known risks about the child and the impact that their admission may have on both them and other children in placement. The results determine whether it is appropriate for the placement to be made and how the identified impacts will be addressed. The staff team manages most incidents without police intervention. A staff member said, ‘We try not to criminalise them. It devalues the role of the police if we call when it isn’t urgent.’ This demonstrates that the staff have the ability to effectively manage most situations that arise. At times, the staff have to use physical intervention. There have been 10 physical interventions recorded since the last inspection. This is an increase and reflects the serious nature of some of the events that have occurred at the home in that period and largely relate to children who had to be moved on. Records of the holds are

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Good

kept in a centralised logbook as well as on the children’s individual records. Children do go missing from care. The majority of episodes of going missing have been late returns and absence without permission. Staff follow the appropriate reporting protocols agreed as part of each child’s risk assessment. Staff use key work sessions to discuss the reasons that children go missing and put alternative strategies in place. It is positive that as a result, the frequency of these is decreasing. One child kept failing to return on time for his curfew. A professional spoke about how staff kept ‘trying not to report him missing and worked to get his curfew and bail conditions changed and he stopped and they engaged him well’. The manager’s support to have the child’s bail conditions changed, demonstrates that he was able to advocate on the child’s behalf and avoid the possibility of him receiving a custodial sentence for breaching his bail conditions.

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Good

The manager and staff team liaise with the local authority designated officer regarding safeguarding issues and ensure that children remain safe. Staff are aware of the signs of bullying and ensure that this is discussed regularly at team meetings, with the children in key work sessions and during house meetings. This ensures that the children feel able to raise the issue with staff and know that if reported it will be actioned. Both staff and children were able to describe how they would raise any concerns that they had about practice within the home. A parent said that she had no concerns about her child’s safety and that her daughter would say if she was not happy. The medication records detail that regular audits are conducted. There is clear signage on one child’s folder detailing that he is allergic to penicillin. This ensures that any staff member will be aware of this should he require medical treatment.

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Good

The manager has been in post since May 2015. He holds a level 4 qualification and is completing the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. He has a number of years’ experience and leads the team confidently. Staff say that they find him supportive and that ‘his door is always open and he is approachable and that helps’. This allows staff to feel that they can confidently make suggestions or raise any areas of concern with the manger. Staff are recruited using safe recruiting processes. Staff complete an induction and probation period and have an annual appraisal that assesses their progress and any developmental needs. The staff files viewed confirmed that these have been conducted. This ensures that staff are continually developing to enhance their ability to conduct their roles. Staff have regular supervision and they had input into the revised agenda of discussion points. This provides a reflective space for staff. There are discussions

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Good

about how the team could better utilise the psychotherapist to assist with reflective practice. The manager has addressed the requirement and two recommendations from the last inspection. He has also revised a number of the recording systems. Some changes are in their infancy and the manager is adapting them based on the feedback from staff. These developments have minimised the level of duplication of recordings and this has resulted in there being fewer gaps in the children’s records. Staff are positive about the changes to the recording which now consists of individual children’s records such as ‘my happy book’, which records the positives that staff want to feedback to the children. The children can request access to their books. One child likes his to be read to him. This level of access to their records allows children to feel that they know what staff are writing about them and positively demonstrates that staff acknowledge even the smallest of changes.

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Good

The home has an independent visitor who visits monthly. The visitor highlights actions required to address any identified shortfalls. The manager adds his comments to the report detailing the actions that will be taken as a result. This ensures that the manager uses the intelligence gained during these visits to improve the work of the staff and ensures that the home is meeting the required expectations. It also informs and improves the quality of care provided. With one exception, the staff members all possess a level 3 qualification. The remaining staff member is due to complete the course in December 2016. The training matrix details both mandatory and additional training courses that staff undertake. It is evident that a number of staff have not had their refresher training at the intervals specified on the matrix. This includes physical intervention, complaints and bullying. It was noted that some of these courses are scheduled for

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Good

the coming month. It is vital that staff are appropriately trained and qualified to ensure that they conduct duties and meet the needs of the children with current knowledge. The manager has introduced a number of child-friendly questionnaires that allow the children to have their say. The manager discusses the children’s responses with them. This demonstrates to the children that their responses are taken seriously and encourages future participation in the completion of the questionnaires. The manager produced the latest version of the statement of purpose in April 2016. The document reflects the service accurately and includes the location assessment. The manager reviews the home and the quality of care every six months. He takes into account the areas that they are seeking to develop and how they can further enhance the experiences for the children placed. This has included a lucky dip and gives children an instant reward for aspects of positive behaviour.

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Good

One child was given a cuddly cushion for managing her behaviour and staying out of an incident the previous night and for her nomination for the looked after children’s award. Another child was attending a family funeral and staff had a small gift to cheer him up on his return. These small tokens express to the children that they are valued and that staff acknowledge when they have experienced and managed difficulties well.

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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

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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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