Children's Home run by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council in Barnsley

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children and young people continue to enjoy coming to the short-break service. They are forming friendships that are flourishing and they participate in various activities. One young person said: ‘I love going for drives out.’ Another child said: ‘I like coming to sleep at X.’ Staff are now providing children and young people with a photographic overview of their experiences and friendships.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children and young people who attend short breaks receive excellent care that is thoroughly planned by staff. Staff are acutely perceptive, and the children and young people’s complex care needs are attentively met. One young person enjoys having her hair being blow-dried, and another young person’s feeding regime has improved. The impact of this is that the young person is now not reliant on gastrostomy feeds. Another child is benefiting from continual staff interaction and observation to prevent him from making himself sick.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children and young people are helped to develop their skills and abilities through the support of a committed staff team. Examples of their accomplishments are making toast and preparing a meal for peers with limited input from the staff. A carer said: ‘It is a brilliant service and they cannot do enough for X. He loves coming.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children and young people continue to benefit from a thorough admission process. This enables their complex needs to be understood and managed upon visits to the home. As children and young people’s stays at the home are assessed and planned effectively, they experience safe and enjoyable stays.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children and young people are safe at the home during their short breaks because of the high levels of supervision. This means that the potential risk of missing from home incidents, and child sexual exploitation of this vulnerable group, are minimised. Physical restraint is rarely used; however, the recording of such interventions does not meet with regulatory requirements.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff support children and young people with the transition from the service. When their time within the service is ending, they are supported to have a positive, celebrated ending. In addition, when transition plans are shared, the staff team works with agencies to ensure that they have the required information so that children and young people continue to have their needs met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff team have worked well to develop partnership working. This has included using the knowledge and experience of other professionals to deliver specialist training to staff. This helps them to support the complex needs of a child using the service. Staff maintain a strong working relationship with parents and carers and other professionals. This ensures that there is a consistent approach and shared learning to meet the needs of the children and young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has fully met the recommendations from the last inspection. She has identified further areas for development within the home, and is actively implementing these. The manager has also strengthened measures for quality assurance, including regular supervision for staff. However, further oversight is required within case records to ensure that staff keep them up to date and that they are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some areas of improvement are identified. Children and young people’s records should be reviewed by the dates agreed, and the independent visitor’s report should be sent to Ofsted in a timely manner. Notifications should be sent without delay’ to the regulator.

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides short breaks for up to eight children and young people who have learning disabilities and physical disabilities, and some of whom may have challenging behaviours.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 18/10/2016 Full Good 08/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/07/2015 Full Good 12/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirements Due date

44: Independent person: visits and reports

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Requirements Due date

The independent person must produce a report, which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether children are safeguarded effectively and the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b)) 30/04/2017

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Requirements Due date

35: Behaviour management policies and records

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Requirements Due date

Within five days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3) (C)) 31/03/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Make best use of information from independent monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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Recommendations

Specifically, ensure that the independent visitor’s report is sent to HMCI before the end of the month that follows the month in which the visit took place.

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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) This is with particular reference to ensuring that the children and young people’s documents are reviewed in line with any agreed review date, in order to evidence progress. In addition, the completed risk assessments would benefit from improved detailed recording, to facilitate a review of the effectiveness of measures.

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Recommendations

 Regulations 35–39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 that 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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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

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Information about this inspection

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

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