Children's home run by Jubilee House Care Trust Limited in Welwyn Hatfield

Inspection report children’s home: SC019441 1 SC019441 Registered provider: Jubilee House Care Trust Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This short-break centre is run by a registered charity. It offers overnight short-break care places for up to five children who have learning and/or physical disabilities. Day care is also offered on the same site for children with similar needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 26 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 The children enjoy and look forward to their stays. They are cared for by staff who know them well. Inspection report children’s home: SC019441 2  The staff adapt the service to meet the individual needs of the children and their families.  Staff use social stories and other communication aids to ensure that the children’s voices are heard. The staff act on the children’s wishes and views.  Children and their families are supported through gradual transitions into and out of the home. These transitions are managed at a pace that suits the child.  The staff engage positively with children who are displaying extremely challenging behaviours.  The managers and the staff are enthusiastic and committed to the children. This is reflected in the way in which they work with the children and their families, both at the home and in the community.  The manager is skilled at ensuring that the children’s stays are expertly

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Key findings from this inspection

coordinated.  Children are increasing in their abilities because of their individualised goals and targets. They are making progress in areas such as using words and vocalisation.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/08/2016 Full Good 16/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC019441 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff greet the children warmly on arrival for their stays. The children respond positively to the staff. The interactions observed between the staff and the children during the inspection demonstrated that the staff are knowledgeable about how each of the children likes to commence their stay, such as running to their bedroom or spending time in the sensory room. This knowledge enables the staff to help the children to transition smoothly from their families into the home and to have a great start to their stays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s support plans and risk assessments are individualised, and have the child’s picture on to ensure that the staff are clear who they are reading about. The support plans provide a comprehensive overview of the child’s needs and review the progress that the child is making towards their goals. The plans give a brief description of the child’s specific health conditions to enable the staff to have a clear understanding of the child’s condition and symptoms. The information contained in each of the plans enables the staff to quickly describe the child and their needs to other professionals in the event of an emergency.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff provide a flexible service that is adapted to each child’s needs. A recent example involved a child having an extended stay, during which the manager greatly reduced the number of children staying to enable the staff to work intensively with a child who was presenting extreme levels of challenging and aggressive behaviour. The child responded positively to the consistent approach. This concentrated time with the child enabled the staff to identify that the child’s medication needed to be reviewed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each child has a separate medication record, and the staff liaise with the pharmacist or doctor if they require further clarity on a medication or dosage. The staff undertake training to ensure that they are able to administer specialist medication and gastrostomy feeds correctly and safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff visit the children’s schools at least once a term, and more frequently when there are behavioural issues. The home staff and school staff are able to learn from each other and they share any successful behavioural strategies. A parent described how she also learns from and shares strategies that the staff use successfully during her child’s stays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have increased their use of social stories to communicate with the children. This is providing a consistent way of including the children in planning their schedules and routines. An added benefit is that this improved communication minimises the level of challenging behaviour that arises from inconsistencies in the messages or approach that the children receive from the staff. The children are building on their communication skills. Some of the children have increased their use of sounds and vocalisation, use of words and use of pictorial systems. The increase in the use of the various communication aids is helping the staff to incorporate the children’s views into Inspection report children’s home: SC019441 4 the running of home in a more constructive way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A staff member is now leading on increasing the children’s participation, and seeks their views on an individual and group basis. This includes the creation of the vegetable patch following a discussion at a children’s meeting about healthy food, and a child expressing the desire to grow fruit and vegetables. There are pictures on display showing the children planting the seeds and nurturing the plants. The fruits of the children’s labour are now starting to grow in the garden. The noticeboards are covered with pictures and show the varied range of events and activities in which the children have participated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff work with the children and their families, including the provision of outreach sessions, to help older children to make the transition to the services that they will access as adults. This work includes staff from the new placements visiting the children at their family home and while they are having a short-break stay. This joint approach provides the children and their families with support from staff who are very familiar to the children and who know the child’s individual routines, which enables the new placement to benefit from this knowledge. A parent whose child is reaching the transition stage praised the staff for helping her to prepare for the pending changes. A staff member described the service as an ‘adaptive child-led service’.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The children are cared for in a safe setting that is homely, well maintained and offers the children a vast number of areas to play and relax. Children do not go missing from this home but the staff are aware of the actions that they should take should an incident occur.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The children’s risk assessments are thorough, regularly updated and detail the due date of the next review.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

If a child is prone to injuries because of a lack of coordination or poor mobility, the staff routinely complete body maps detailing any marks or bruises that the child may have. The staff also complete body maps when a child is on a child protection plan. This enables the staff to quickly alert parents and professionals to any concerns. None of the children are deemed at risk of child sexual exploitation; however, the staff undergo training to maintain their awareness of the issue.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The rota demonstrates that the home has the appropriate staffing levels to meet the children’s needs. The staffing level is increased when required.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The comprehensive location risk assessment is reviewed and updated on an annual basis. Earlier in the year, there had been some gaps in conducting the health and safety checks. This has been addressed and the responsibilities for the routine checks have been reallocated to full-time staff members. The frequency of the checks is now in line with the home’s policies. Inspection report children’s home: SC019441 5 There has been one complaint since the last inspection. This was investigated and the required action taken. There have been no allegations made against staff. The staff understand the process to follow should any concerns arise.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The use of physical intervention is minimal in frequency and brief in duration. The increase in incidents that one child had experienced has reduced as his behaviour has settled.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

There are no incidents of deliberate child-on-child targeting or bullying. The manager, as part of the allocations process, considers group dynamics based on the staff knowledge and information shared by the parents and school staff. This ensures that the stays are coordinated well.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The children are always supervised when they use the internet to ensure that they are protected from accessing inappropriate content. The staff use the children’s forum to discuss issues of safety. A recent example involved a discussion during which the children had to identify whom they would approach in the unlikely event that they became separated from their parents or carers while out in public.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post for over 10 years. She has a wealth of experience and has the required qualifications. Staff members spoke positively about the manager and described her as supportive and caring. One staff member said, ‘She is brilliant. I feel lucky to have a manager like [manager’s name].’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. She is working well with the newly appointed deputy manager to make improvements in specific areas, including monitoring the quality and completeness of the children’s records.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager acknowledges that there had been some gaps in records and health and safety checks. These had occurred during a period that the home was overstretched, as the staff were covering additional shifts caused by staff vacancies and sickness absence. The manager described the positive change in the staff morale since the appointment of new staff. The home has four new staff and is almost at full staffing capacity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

It is evident that the staff have engaged positively and worked through situations when the children have presented additional challenges. The manager and her new deputy manager have streamlined the supervision process and created a system of auditing records. They are both very ambitious for the children and the home. This ambition is mirrored by the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The supervision records demonstrate that the staff are encouraged to be reflective and to discuss any issues that they may be experiencing in their work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

With the exception of two new starters, the staff all hold a relevant level 3 qualification. Inspection report children’s home: SC019441 6 The manager ensures that any new staff commence their level 3 diploma course when they have successfully completed their probationary period. The staff undertake a range of mandatory training along with courses that help them to understand how to meet the children’s medical needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The statement of purpose reflects the child-focused approach of the home and the services that are offered to children and their families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The two requirements made at the last inspection have been addressed. The manager has undertaken the six-monthly review of the quality of care. The review is well balanced and highlights the positive aspects of the service and the areas that need addressing. The report demonstrates the manager’s understanding of limitations that issues such as staffing have had, and how these will be addressed going forward. The independent visitor’s reports are now being received in a timely manner. The reports detail the independent visitor’s view on whether the children are safeguarded, and highlight any shortfalls. It is clear that shortfalls are revisited to review how they have been addressed. The manager promptly addresses any issues raised and she uses these reports to drive up standards at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers advocate on behalf of the children and their families. This includes pursuing the commissioning teams or placing authorities when the managers feel that children require a change in the service that they receive, for example increased/shortened stays.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The feedback from parents and professionals is extremely positive about the care that the children receive and the way that the staff work with them. Parents describe the services as providing the children with the opportunity to socialise and have sleepovers with other children. Parents describe the staff as very accommodating when allocating the stays. They say that the staff keep them informed and that they can see that the staff have the children’s interests at the centre of their planning and decision-making. Parents have no concerns about their children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

 ‘I can’t praise them [staff] enough; they are fantastic.’  ‘His behaviour has been challenging and schools haven’t coped, and the current one is finding it difficult. I tell them [school staff] about strategies that [the home] use and it works.’  ‘They [staff] are so knowledgeable, and a source of help and information.’  ‘He [my child] has fun and is always worn out when he comes back. When he arrives he is excited. You can tell by his mannerisms and body language.’  ‘It is a lovely service. I wouldn’t send him [my child] anywhere that I was not happy with. They [staff] make it fit the family.’  ‘I feel that he is safe here. I trust them 100%. I can relax and not worry.’  ‘They [the staff] do slow introductions and always put children’s needs and wants Inspection report children’s home: SC019441 7 first. The staff are excellent at what they do. Across the board, they are a good respite centre, and the outreach is brilliant.’

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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’. Inspection report children’s home: SC019441 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Jubilee House Care Trust Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Jubilee House Care Trust Ltd, St David’s House, 11 Blenheim Court, Brownfields, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire AL7 1AD

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Inspector

Sonia Hay, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC019441 9 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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