Children's Home run by Unity Residential Care Services Limited in Staffordshire

Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children’s home’s provision is good because:

 Young people progress in all areas of their lives, such as health, education and life experiences.  Staff have a good knowledge of the needs of the young people and safeguarding procedures needed to keep young people safe.  Managers are proactive in raising concerns on behalf of young people when they are not happy.  Young people move on successfully to independence or foster care.  Young people experience positive family contact.  Staff feel supported and receive regular supervision and appropriate training to meet young people’s needs.  Staff are sensitive to the diverse needs of each young person.  There are a few shortfalls in practice. These include record-keeping, the monitoring of the quality of care, developing young people’s relationships with each other and promoting health.

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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

In order to meet the health and well-being standard, the registered person must ensure that: (1)(a) the health and well-being needs of children are met. 25/02/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 Children must feel safe and be safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the quality standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. 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.

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Recommendations

The whole review process and the resulting report 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

 Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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Information about this children’s home

This home is part of a private children’s care organisation and is registered to accommodate three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 05/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/08/2015 Full Good 18/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/06/2014 Full Good

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Good

Transitions in and out of the home are well planned. For example, one young person moved successfully to a foster family and two other young people had well- coordinated moves into semi-independent living. These careful, considered moves mean that young people are well prepared for their next stages.

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Good

Young people have gained skills and benefited from the stability of living in a homely and consistent environment. Staff celebrate young people’s individual chosen identity, characteristics and personalities. The staff recognise that each young person is unique. Staff research and facilitate appropriate youth clubs and support that is available to meet each young person’s individual needs. For example, supporting young people to attend a lesbian, gay, bisexual youth club. This gives young people a foundation to build upon. Consequently, young people have a positive regard for their identity coupled with an increase in their self- esteem and self-confidence.

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Good

Young people thrive educationally. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘[Young person] is making progress from when she was before, engaging with staff and responding to the routines and care and attention. It is not a children’s home but more like a home. [Young person] is just back into education and has more of a structure to her day now.’ A young person who recently left the home achieved eight GCSEs at A* to C grades, and is now attending college full time. As a result, young people are improving their future educational and job prospects as a result of their educational attainment.

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Good

Young people’s health needs are partially met. Young people attend all of their routine medical appointments with the dentist, doctor and optician. However, staff have not always made sure that young people are up to date with their immunisations. Consequently, some young people are at risk of complications if they catch the infectious disease that immunisations help to prevent. As a result, young people’s health needs are not being fully promoted.

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Good

Current relationships between young people can be difficult at times. Staff are monitoring the situation and have been working hard to build up relationships between young people.

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Good

Young people’s views are taken seriously in the day-to-day running of the home. Young people participate in house meetings and the registered manager always writes to young people, thanking them for their views and answering their requests in a humorous and personal manner. Young people engage in activities of their choice and are able to personalise their bedrooms. However, young people are not fully involved in all aspects of their care as they do not always contribute to their records or plans. As a result, young people may not know what the expectations are of them and what they can expect from staff.

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Good

Staff facilitate contact for young people both in the home and in the family’s home or area. Family members who have contact at the home enjoy dinners or lunches with the staff and young people. Young people feel a sense of belonging in the home and are proud to show off their bedrooms to family members. A grandmother said, ‘She is absolutely fine and was in [another area] for one year and hated it. She went to [the home] and this is the best place for her, she absolutely loves it… I did not want to her go into a children’s home but it has been the best thing for her.’ Staff, therefore, make sure that young people who live a long way from the home keep in touch with their family and maintain their identity.

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Good

Young people are prepared for independence in accordance with their ages and care plans. Young people engage in a range of life skills and take part in independence training. They learn to look after their own physical health, learn to cook, budget and apply for employment and college courses. Young people also attend the gym with staff to help release stress and to keep fit.

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Good

Staff are aware of young people’s presenting risks and manage these effectively. As a result, young people’s risk-taking behaviour has significantly reduced. For example, young people do not go missing from the home and do not engage in alcohol misuse. However, some young people do not always feel safe in the home when other young people attempt to harm them. Staff are aware of the current relationships between young people. The staff talk sensitively with each young person and encourage positive engagement. This is helping young people to engage in positive conversation and improve their socialising skills.

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Good

The home’s records do not evidence or support the robust practice demonstrated by staff. Specifically, some up-to-date risk assessments miss important information following their review, such as information pertaining to young people going missing. The impact of this is reduced by staff practice, which is markedly stronger. Staff recognise that different strategies are required to match the personalities, characteristics, histories and needs of each young person. A member of staff said, ‘Staff work as a team and make sure that boundaries are consistent.’ As a result, there have been no physical interventions since the last inspection. Judgement grade

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Good

Ofsted registered the manager in October 2016. The registered manager is currently studying for a level 5 diploma in leadership in children and young people health and social care. He holds a level 3 national vocational qualification in children and young people and has substantial relevant experience.

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Good

Most staff are qualified. Those who are unqualified are within regulatory timescales at present to obtain their qualification within two years of starting work. Staff are supported to develop their practice through training, structured team meetings, supervision and appraisals. These opportunities enable staff to reflect on their practice, discuss how well the young people are progressing, and provide challenge.

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Good

Staff receive good support from the home’s management team. Supervision is effective and staff talk positively about the support they receive. Appraisals are all completed within timescales. One member of staff said, ‘I feel supported by management, the environment is supportive and staff will respond and help each other out.’ This ensures that staff have the skills to meet the needs of all young people.

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Good

Internal and independent monitoring reports demonstrate that the registered manager has an understanding of the service’s shortfalls, where improvements are needed and how these are going to be achieved. However, the registered manager has not identified inaccurate information recorded within the independent reports. Furthermore, internal six-monthly reports do not fully identify how managers and staff will improve or maintain the quality of care for the next six months. This has the potential to miss opportunities to improve the quality of care for young people.

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Good

Staff are safely recruited. The registered manager utilises a new system to ensure that all checks are in place before staff work in the home. This is a significant improvement and ensures that any adults employed are thoroughly vetted. This helps to protect young people.

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Good

A statement of purpose details the ethos of the home and is readily available for professionals and parents. The staff rota provides consistency to young people. Staff are suitably qualified and trained to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills to meet the individual needs of young people. This supports stability and consistency for young people. Managers and staff have good working relationships with families and professionals. All are complimentary about the home, communication and the commitment of staff.

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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 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 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 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 at 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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