SC 040491

Inspection report children’s home: SC040132 1 SC040132 Registered provider: Cornwall Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide a short-break service for up to four children and/or young people who have learning difficulties. The home is managed and owned by the local authority.

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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: 17 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are provided with good quality care and individualised support. This includes the provision of welcoming bedrooms which are personalised. Inspection report children’s home: SC040132 2  Safeguarding practice at the home is of a good standard. Safeguarding concerns are identified, understood and managed in a timely manner.  Young people’s wishes are central to the ethos of the home. This can be seen within the daily running of the home. For example, if young people are not happy, the reasons why are explored and addressed.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Care plans do not sufficiently clarify targets and goals, or ensure that young people move on from the home in a planned way when they reach 18 years of age. Therefore a requirement in relation to these issues has been made.  There is currently no provision in place for young people to be supported to understand the risks associated with child sexual exploitation. Therefore a recommendation has been made in this respect.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/08/2016 Full Good 16/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/01/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC040132 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the 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

The care planning standard is that children receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)).

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the need for comprehensive care planning which evolves in a timely manner in order to promote the best interests of young people. This is an ongoing process which starts before young people come to stay, and concludes with effective planning and support for when they move on. 29 Nov 2017

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Recommendation

 Children should be supported by staff to understand what abuse is. They should be given information about how to report abuse or any concerns about possible abuse. They should be able to access in private, relevant websites or help lines such as Childline16 to seek advice and help (Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards' page 44, paragraph 9.16). This recommendation specifically relates to the need for the provision of support for young people in order for them to understand the risks associated with child sexual exploitation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are provided with good quality care and individualised support during their visits to the home. This includes welcoming bedrooms which are personalised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that they are up to date with all of the relevant paperwork and the evolving support needs of young people before they arrive for each visit to the home. Varied activities and experiences are facilitated for young people during their visits, Inspection report children’s home: SC040132 4 including pizza-making, face-painting, sensory play, trips out and games.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planning for stays includes careful consideration of peer relationships and the positive impact that young people may or may not have on each other. This careful planning promotes positive stays for all young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people were observed to enjoy their time in their home and to have good relationships with staff. The home provides a welcoming and homely environment for young people. Young people were seen to be happy and relaxed in their environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to develop their social skills and psychological well-being, and have their health needs carefully monitored. This is achieved by staff routinely seeking feedback from young people, parents and other professionals in respect of young people’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When required, young people are supported to use visual scheduling. This is the use of pictures so that young people can communicate their choices more easily. Visual scheduling is a consistently used positive tool.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers are fully aware that improvement is required regarding support for young people to move on to different resources once they are 18. A senior staff member recently completed an audit of outcomes for young people in this respect. The audit demonstrated that there is a significant gap in planning for young people to move on in a positive way. It transpired that clarity regarding which resources are available to young people is not achieved in a timely manner.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback received from young people, parents and professionals highlighted that the home is providing a good standard of attentive care to young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A compliment seen from one young person after leaving the home included a poem written by the young person and some forget-me-not seeds. These have been planted at the home.

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

At the last inspection, a requirement was made in respect of the need for action to be taken to improve the management of medication. There has been one medication error since the last inspection. However, a great deal of work is being undertaken in order to improve medication administration systems. Therefore this requirement is met.

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

Safeguarding practice at the home overall is of a good standard. Safeguarding concerns are identified, understood and managed in a timely manner. This information is effectively recorded and stored in order to ensure that important documents are easily accessible.

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

On one occasion the local authority designated officer (LADO) was not informed of a safeguarding matter regarding the practice of an education provider. Social workers and Inspection report children’s home: SC040132 5 the police were notified and the appropriate investigations were completed. However, it was an assumption that the LADO did not need to be contacted. This means that the concern regarding the practice of the provider was not appropriately recorded for future reference. This does not rigorously promote safeguarding for all young people.

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

One young person was observed by staff to be in need of support with personal items. This led to a joined-up response to meeting the young person’s needs from both professionals and family members. This led to notable positive progress in respect of the young person’s appearance and development of their self-esteem.

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

Risk assessments are of a good standard. This includes individual personal evacuation plans for young people in the case of an emergency. One fire exit is not wheelchair accessible, which could place young people at risk should this be the only evacuation route.

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

There is currently no provision in place for young people to be supported to understand the risks associated with child sexual exploitation. Therefore a recommendation has been made in this respect.

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

Two complaints have been received by the home since the last inspection. These matters have been handled appropriately. One remains ongoing; however, discussion regarding the planned actions did not raise any concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers demonstrate commitment to raising the standards of care provided to young people. The registered manager and his team have fully developed monitoring and review systems in order to promote the standards of care provided to young people. This can be seen in the many effective review systems within which staff have identified key areas for improvement, including medication administration systems and care planning approaches. This was a requirement made at the last inspection, which is now met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A further requirement regarding the need for all staff to undertake appropriate continuing professional development, specifically in relation to augmented communication, is also met. Record-keeping has also consistently improved at the home, which was a recommendation made at the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Care plan documents do not sufficiently clarify targets and goals, or ensure that young people are supported to move on from the home in a planned way when they reach 18 years of age. Therefore a requirement in relation to these issues has been made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a marked improvement in supervision systems since the summer months. Supervision records demonstrate the provision of good quality reflective supervision. This ensures that staff practice is effectively monitored and promotes the best interests of young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC040132 6 Leaders, managers and staff have good working relationships with other professionals. Staff attend all relevant planning meetings and thoroughly contribute to discussions in order to promote the best interests of young people. For example, when young people are new to the home, introductions are carefully managed. This includes staff facilitating initial tea visits and ensuring that young people’s likes and dislikes are known.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers actively advocate for young people. Concerns are effectively addressed by leaders, managers and staff at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Advocacy provision which is completely independent from the local authority remains an area for development at this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Young people’s wishes are central to the ethos of the home. This can be seen within care planning paperwork and in the daily running of the home. For example, if young people are not happy, the reasons why are explored and addressed.

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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 differences 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: SC040132 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Truro, Cornwall TR1 3AY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Tony Phillips-Jones

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Inspector(s)

Polly Soper, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC040132 8 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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