Annex A. Request for information at a full inspection of a children’s home

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:

 Daily life in the home is a positive experience for young people.  Staff are knowledgeable about and supportive of young people’s education goals.  Young people’s individual needs and aspirations are taken into account when activities are arranged.  Young people’s views and wishes are routinely considered, both in their individual care and in the life of the home.  Young people’s health needs are well met, especially their emotional health needs.  The home prioritises working with parents and keeps them regularly updated on their child’s progress.  Regular psychologist input assists staff in making sense of young people’s behaviours.  Behaviour management in the home is non-restrictive and usually effective.  The home has effective working relationships with a range of external colleagues.  Staff work well with young people who may go missing from care, and they focus on trying to make them safer.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 There is an effective management team in place that leads the home by example.  Some staff are not familiar with the way that the home works, and the statement of purpose requires review.  There is an isolated example of the home failing to notify Ofsted of a serious event.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that 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

16: Statement of purpose The registered person must ensure that the statement of purpose is kept under review, and where appropriate revised, and that HMCI is notified of any revisions and sent a copy of the revised document within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16(3)(a)(b)) 21/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard The registered person must ensure that all staff understand and apply the home's statement of purpose. (Regulation 6(2)(b)(1)) 21/11/2016

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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 there is a system in place so that all serious events are notified within 24 hours to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Information about this children's home

The home is managed by the local authority. The home provides accommodation for up to five young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The local authority’s semi-independent accommodation is available in the same building but does not form part of the registration.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 01/02/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness 15/06/2015 Full Good 04/09/2014 Full Good

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Good

Young people are usually carefully nurtured by experienced and talented staff who know them well. Staff are ably assisted in offering sensitive and informed care by regular input from a psychologist. A staff member described these sessions as a ‘really useful tool’. These regular sessions give staff time to reflect on what lies underneath presenting behaviour. This enables staff to persist in using strategies to successfully encourage more positive behaviour in individual young people. The home has some staffing shortfalls, which means that sometimes young people are cared for by staff who are less familiar, and sometimes not as knowledgeable as existing staff. This has occasionally led to miscommunications in responding to young people. However, in general, young people benefit from a stable and predictable home environment. This assists young people to develop trusting relationships with staff, and enables them to begin to experience appropriate

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Good

attachments. Staff continue to offer an ongoing relationship, even when young people are absent from the home for some weeks. This helps give young people a sense of belonging. Young people’s daily experiences in this home are usually positive. A young person said, ‘This is a calm place with lots of space. Staff are really nice and you can talk if you need to.’ Daily life in the home is supplemented by a good range of planned activities. Young people each have effective, individual activity planners, and these reflect their preferences, for example theatre activities, sport and trips to the cinema. In addition, staff are appropriately knowledgeable about each young person’s education status. They celebrate their educational achievements and seek additional help if young people require that. This approach assists all the young people to make good progress either in their exams, or their education attendance,

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Good

or both. Young people’s views are listened to. Residents’ meetings happen regularly and through these, young people influence daily life, by making food choices and by choosing activities. Young people have access to an advocate, and know how to complain. On occasion, policies such as regular reporting to parents are amended, to balance the preferences of young people with the adults in their lives. This helps give young people an appropriate sense of the importance of their views. Young people are enthusiastic about routinely assisting in staff recruitment, and this helps to develop their confidence in their skills. Staff are adept at negotiating with young people, helping them to understand that they will not always get everything that they want. Young people’s health needs are met well. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s sexual health needs and use this effectively to inform young people

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Good

directly. Young people’s emotional health is particularly well served, by daily skilled care, input from the home’s psychologist and the child and adolescent mental health service. Young people’s physical health has also improved, strongly assisted by measures that the home has put in place. Professional colleagues note that the relationships made with parents and carers are a strength of this service. These are helped by parents’ and carers’ regular receipt of written updates on their child. The focus on this key relationship has helped to begin to restore some fractured family links.

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Good

Young people live in a well-maintained environment with attentive staff who listen and respond to their concerns and worries. Young people are clearly confident in talking freely and openly with these staff. When there are risks, for example to the security of the building, staff deal with these promptly and thoroughly. Regular health and safety checks and routine fire evacuation practices help to keep young people safe from environmental harm. Room searches are appropriately carried out, with a sound balance on ensuring safety across the home and respecting young people’s dignity. Staff recruitment is carefully and thoroughly done, with appropriately high standards expected of candidates. This helps to protect young people in the home from unsuitable people. Many young people admitted to the home have a behaviour pattern of going missing from care. Staff have a good understanding of how to respond in these

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Good

situations and confidently apply this knowledge. They are appropriately aware of the high risks that such behaviour presents for young people. Each young person has an individualised missing-from-care plan to follow, which is based on their particular level of risk. This plan is informed by good staff knowledge about young people’s habits and preferences. The home’s joint working on safeguarding issues with agencies such as the police and placing authorities is effective. External colleagues say that this detailed understanding of young people has proved important at strategy meetings in determining patterns of behaviour. Overall, missing from care patterns in the home have declined, but this is not the case for some individual young people. However, triggers for this behaviour are well understood by staff, and a management plan is in place. Appropriate risk assessments are in place, which are personalised for each young

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Good

person. Sound individualised behaviour plans help to inform the staff response to young people. Generally, behaviour management is a strength of this home. The staff emphasis is on positive behaviour management, with rewards and incentives freely given for good behaviour. Appropriate sanctions are used when necessary, but generally mediation, distraction and discussion are the preferred behavioural methods. Young people recognise this and one said, ‘There is no punishment here. Ups and downs are dealt with by talking it over.’ This approach is reflected in that there is no use of restraint, and police involvement in behaviour management is rare. However, young people have also been given clear messages that, should the level of their inappropriate physical behaviour toward staff become problematic, staff have the right to involve the police. It is too soon to assess how or whether this will impact on behaviour management overall at the home.

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Good

The home is effectively managed by a permanent manager, who is currently undergoing the process of registration. External colleagues are very positive about her management of the home, describing her as, ‘knowing young people very well’ and being ‘very responsive to feedback about practice, and not at all defensive’. She has already been effective at introducing some improvements to practice, for example a chronology of events in young people’s files. Local authority colleagues feel that this is very helpful in tracking young people’s patterns and trends. The manager has also been proactive in promptly addressing young people’s complaints. For example, she has held meetings with staff, as appropriate, and young people and their social workers, and has resolved issues to young people’s and social workers’ satisfaction. There has been a very stable and experienced staff team in place for many years, although more recently there have been some staff changes. This has resulted in

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Good

having to use non-permanent staff, and this has occasionally led to less knowledgeable staff on duty, and consequently more strain on existing staff. These issues are being appropriately dealt with by senior staff, in that agency group supervision is now in place, and attempts at recruitment have taken place. However, staff morale is still an issue because of the rapid pace of recent staff changes, and organisational decisions awaited over the future direction of the service. Local authority colleagues are concerned that the current situation puts at risk the continued maintenance of a consistent and stable staff team. However, overall, the staff team continues to offer effective and nurturing care, which enables young people to make progress. The home’s statement of purpose requires some updating to reflect recent changes. In addition, Ofsted has not received a recent copy of the document as required. This limits Ofsted’s scrutiny of the service in its role as the regulator. In

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Good

addition, not all staff, including temporary staff, are familiar with custom and practice in the home, and the home’s approach to particular types of incidents as detailed in a statement of purpose. This puts at risk young people routinely receiving coherent and consistent responses from staff. The home does not have a large number of notifiable incidents, and these are generally notified correctly. However, there was a recent oversight in the absence of the manager, when Ofsted was not notified of a particular incident. This had no adverse impact on the immediate safeguarding of the young person concerned, in that the appropriate authorities were notified and appropriate action taken. However, this oversight demonstrates that a more effective system for notifications is required. External colleagues positively note the child-centred approach that is taken when young people move on from the home. This helps to give young people their best

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Good

chance of coping well with transitions. Young people are positive about how they were introduced to the home and one said, ‘Young people who live here seem to be a good match. They are really easy to get along with.’ This suggests an appropriately careful admissions policy, built around the needs of young people. Staff receive regular, focused supervision and appraisals as appropriate. There is an aspirational training programme in place, which seeks to equip all staff with a coherent therapeutic approach, which will benefit consistency. Team meetings offer effective support and challenge to staff, and are appropriately child centred. Staff are particularly well supported by the close links forged with other agencies, and this reflects the management team’s effective networking. All these inputs help staff to continue to meet the individual needs of young people in the home effectively.

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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 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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