Children's home run by City of York Council

Inspection report children’s home: 1263625 1 Registered provider: City Of York Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A local authority operates and runs the home. It provides care and accommodation for one child or young person who has learning disabilities and requires a medium- to long- term placement. The registered manager has been registered since 2017 when the home first opened.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: this is the first inspection since registration

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1263625 2

p.1

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 the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Specifically, staff should ensure that they record the young person’s progress and achievements and link these to their care plan and targets.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team provides excellent care and support to this young person. This has led to the young person making significant progress and exceeding her parents’ and professionals’ expectations. The young person has less aggressive outbursts due to her reduced anxiety. She enjoys activities at home and in the community and is more open to accepting change. A major factor leading to this progress has been the consistency of the staff team and their effective work with the parents, health and education professionals. The timely sharing of information enables the young person to process information before any needed changes take place. This results in less anxiety for the young person.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The detailed care plan provides all the necessary information for staff about how to care for the young person. Staff have an excellent knowledge and understanding about the young person’s complex health and disability needs and how this impacts on her everyday life. Staff have good relationships with the young person, which makes her feel comfortable with those caring for her. Staff are committed to the young person, with them going the extra mile for her, such as working extra hours to support her during a family holiday.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The homely environment reflects the young person’s personality and interests, with many photographs in the rooms. The creative staff have designed a plethora of visual aids and prompts. These aid communication without making the home look institutionalised. Staff develop social stories to provide the young person with important information. This helps her understand and accept changes to her daily routine, such as changes to the staff rotas due to holidays. Staff help the young person to build resilience for coping with day-to-day change. They provide the young person with different techniques to help her to stay calm in stressful situations, such as relaxing in the hammock.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff continually ascertain the young person’s wishes and feelings. Her vocabulary has increased but staff also use several different methods to capture her views, such as on a pictorial flower chart. The young person is involved in the running of the home and makes choices about menus and activities. Staff assist her with the development of her Inspection report children’s home: 1263625 3 independent living skills, such as shopping and cooking. Staff also encourage the young person to engage more in the community, such as using public transport. This has resulted in an increase in the places the young person visits, leading to further opportunities to meet and socialise with others.

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team has an excellent relationship with the young person’s parents. They provide additional support during contact. This has resulted in the young person experiencing fun days out and short-break holidays with her family that enable them to build happy memories of their times together.

p.3

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

High staffing levels ensure that the young person is closely observed and supervised and that she has good levels of support. Staff make the home a physically safe environment. The young person is kept safe at home and in the community as her whereabouts are always known. However, staff know how to respond if the young person goes missing.

p.3

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

Good safeguarding practices are underpinned by a detailed risk assessment. Staff are intuitive and know the young person well. They quickly recognise any subtle changes in the young person’s behaviour and they respond using distraction techniques to help reduce her anxiety, aggression or self-injurious behaviour. Staff support the young person to articulate how much time she needs to calm down. This is helping her to self-regulate her behaviours.

p.3

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

There has been a significant reduction in the young person’s spontaneous, aggressive behaviour. However, when the young person reacts quickly without warning, staff sometimes need to hold her to keep her and others safe. On these occasions, the trained staff use low-level holds. The records are detailed and provide a comprehensive account of the young person’s care. There has been a reduction in the number of times when this form of intervention is necessary.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since the home was registered in 2017. She is also registered as the manager of the local authority’s short-break provision which is situated next door to this home. She manages her time effectively between the two homes, assisted by a supportive senior staff team. Staff respond well to her approach and management style.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises the commitment of staff, who make up an experienced, skilled and eclectic staff team. The child-focused staff work together to provide the best care possible for the young person. Her family echo this view and they benefit from a good working relationship with the staff team.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported through their regular supervisions and reflective team discussions. They offer good levels of support to each other. Documentation is clear and organised, providing transparency of information. Improved monitoring systems allow targets to be Inspection report children’s home: 1263625 4 set, strategies put in place and their effectiveness reviewed by managers. Staff look at different ways of working to adapt to the young person’s changing needs. However, staff do not always capture the small, but significant progress made by the young person to link this with her care plan and targets.

p.3

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Independent monthly visits provide rigorous scrutiny of practice and procedures. The manager’s six-monthly review of the quality of care outlines areas for development to improve the service.

p.4

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.

p.4

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: 1263625 5

p.4

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City of York Council, West Offices, Station Rise, York YO1 6GA

p.5

Inspector

Tina Ruffles, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1263625 6 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.

p.5

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.6

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.6

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.6