Children's Home run by Leeds City Council in Leeds

Unique reference number SC033723 Inspection date 14/01/2014 Inspector Simon Morley Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 26/06/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This is a purpose-built children’s home which is operated by a local authority. The home provides medium- to long-term care for up to five young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making satisfactory progress .

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Progress

The last full inspection of the home was on 26 June 2013. The overall effectiveness was judged to be good with good judgements in outcomes for young people, quality of care, leadership and management. Safeguarding was judged to be adequate with a recommendation that staff are trained to deal with and recognise indications and incidents of bullying. This recommendation has been met and young people continue to make progress in their lives. A number of additional areas for improvement were identified at this inspection. As a result the home is judged to be making satisfactory progress.

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Progress

Since the last inspection staff have had training on how to keep young people safe from bullying. The effectiveness of this has not been fully tested. As an extra measure to resolve bullying, staffing levels were increased to provide additional support to the young people. The acting manager at the time also worked hard to support and encourage staff to engage with all young people in a more positive way. The issues of bullying behaviour were resolved by young people moving. This has led to a decrease in police involvement in the home. While there is a policy on police involvement, this has not been used consistently. That is being addressed by the manager.

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Progress

While there have been challenges for staff in addressing unacceptable behaviour, there is good practice in the minimal use of physical intervention. At the same time, the use of restorative practice is being developed as a more effective and child- focussed way of supporting young people to improve their behaviour. However, records relating to the use of physical intervention do not consistently evidence that young people are routinely offered the opportunity for a medical examination in case of injury. Management monitoring does not always identify when there has been a shortfall in the recording of such incidents. This compromises the home’s effectiveness in ensuring young people are appropriately safeguarded.

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Progress

In other areas the management team are clear about the strengths and weaknesses of the home and are taking action to address them. For example audits of both young people’s monthly action plans and evaluation reports on their progress have identified areas for improvement. The existing evaluation reports are not good at demonstrating the outcomes young people have achieved or how much they have developed since their admission to the home. There are plans to improve this. Shortfalls in practice with regard to young people going missing from the home have also been identified. Staff do not consistently search for young people who are missing. Risk assessments are not fully developed to allow for effective use of joint protocols with the local police authority. This impacts on the ability of staff to effectively protect young people who are missing.

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Progress

Despite these identified shortfalls, young people are making progress with their development, education, social skills and preparation for independence. Young people reported they are happy living at the home. A stakeholder commented 'its brill here, a settled placement and staff are child-focussed'. The staff have successfully supported young people to move into more independent accommodation. Young people have a good say about their care, what they do and the running of the home. Young people benefit from staff who are keen to see them do well, spend time with them on a regular basis and provide one-to-one support and guidance.

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Progress

Monitoring by the registered provider takes place regularly but reports do not give sufficient information about how well young people enjoy and achieve, making it difficult to assess the quality of care in the home. In addition there is a conflict of interest with these arrangements and the on-going management of the home. These shortfalls impact on how well the Registered Manager is able to lead and manage the home. Monitoring reports have not been sent to Ofsted on a monthly basis as required.

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Progress

There are a number of areas identified for further improvement. These include the quality of monitoring by the registered provider, current practice in relation to young people missing from home, police involvement and monitoring of the use of physical intervention.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that where the home is visited in accordance with this regulation by an employee of the organisation or partnership those visits are not compromised by the management arrangements of the home (Regulation 33 (1) and (2)) 28/03/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that Ofsted is provided with a copy of the report made under paragraph (4) on a regular monthly basis (Regulation 33 (3) and (5) (a)) 28/03/2014

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 ensure where there has been physical restraint children are always given the opportunity to be examined by a registered nurse or medical practitioner (NMS 3.16)  ensure the approach to care minimises the need for police involvement to deal with challenging behaviour and avoids criminalising children unnecessarily, in particular that staff consistently follow procedures and guidance on police involvement in the home (NMS 3.22)  ensure if a child is absent from the home and their whereabouts is not known (i.e. the child is missing), the home’s procedures are compatible with and have regard to Runaway and Missing from Home and Care (RMFHC) protocols and procedures, in particular that staff follow those procedures and actively search for the missing child (NMS 5.6)  ensure children who do go missing are protected as far as possible and responded to positively on their return, in particular review children's individual

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Recommendations

risk assessments with specific reference to the risks associated with them going missing in order to ensure children are appropriately categorised as missing and staff make effective use existing protocols with the local police authority (NMS 5)  ensure the manager regularly monitors, in line with regulations, all records kept by the home to ensure compliance with the home’s policies, in particular by reporting on any concerns about, or shortfalls in, the way in which the use of physical intervention is recorded (NMS 21.2)  ensure that visits to the home carried out under Regulation 33 scrutinise how the home is supporting children to enjoy and achieve. (Children Act 1989, Guidance and Regulations, Volume 5: Children’s Homes, paragraph 3.12)

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The 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 relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection.

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