Children's Home run by Shropshire Council in Shropshire

Unique reference number SC382730 Inspector Julian Mason Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Shropshire Council Registered person address Shirehall, Abbey Foregate Shrewsbury Shropshire SY2 6ND Responsible individual Tina Russell Registered manager Ian William Allman Date of last inspection 21/02/2014 2 of 11 Inspection date 29/08/2014

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Previous inspection good progress Enforcement action since last inspection none

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Overall effectiveness adequate

Outcomes for children and young people good Quality of care adequate Keeping children and young people safe adequate Leadership and management adequate

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Overall effectiveness

The home has recently changed its purpose and function from providing short term residential assessment placements to the provision of a short breaks service for young people who are on the edge of care.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from a home environment that provides a nurturing and safe foundation for them to settle and enjoy their short break stays. This helps each young person build on their social skills, relationships and to develop emotionally. The staff team work well together. They are building effective partnerships with parents and external professionals to ensure young people experience the right care and support. Referring professionals are positive about the service with one stating, ‘it’s a good start to what is a relatively new service’.

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Overall effectiveness

Staffing ratios ensure young people receive the attention they require so they can be fully involved and consulted in planning their short break routines. Staff want all young people to benefit from their time in the home irrespective of their backgrounds and circumstances. Staff seek all available opportunities to enable young people to positively engage and enjoy their experiences. They successfully employ strategies to help reduce young people’s anxieties associated with being away from their permanent home. 3 of 11 There are some shortfalls within the service and as a result, eight requirements and four recommendations have been made. 4 of 11

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Information about this children’s home

This children's home is owned and operated by a local authority. It provides a short break service for up to four young people at any one time who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2014 Interim good progress 19/07/2013 Full outstanding 31/01/2013 Interim good progress 19/07/2012 Full good

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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

4 (2001) keep under review and where appropriate revise the statement of purpose to ensure it reflects all matters listed in Schedule 1. This relates to the procedures and circumstances around emergency referrals and admissions to the home (Regulation 4(5)(a)) 18/10/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the children's home is conducted so as to make proper provision for the care, education, supervision, support and, where appropriate, treatment of children accommodated there. This is in relation to the completion of a short breaks placement plan for each young person that clearly 18/10/2014 5 of 11 identifies all of their needs (Regulation 11(b))

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that electronic or mechanical monitoring devices for the surveillance of children are not used in the children's home except for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children accommodated in the children's home, and where the conditions are met under this regulation (Regulation 22(1)(a-d)) 18/10/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) maintain in the children's home the records specified in Schedule 4 and ensure they are kept up-to-date. This relates to keeping a record in the form of a register showing in respect of each child accommodated the information outlined in Schedule 4 (Regulation 29(1)) 18/10/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that the persons working at the home and, so far as practicable, children accommodated there are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire (Regulation 32(1)(e)) 18/10/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) appoint an independent person to visit and report on the children's home in accordance with this regulation. That the persons appointed are not disqualified from carrying out this duty as outlined in this regulation and subsequent guidance. Visits by the independent person under paragraph 1 of this regulation shall take place at least once a month and maybe unannounced. (Regulation 33(1)(2)(7)) 18/10/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure the independent person critically examines and scrutinises the way in which the children's home is managed and the quality of care provided to children accommodated there (Regulation 33(3)(a)(b)) 18/10/2014

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) establish and maintain a system for monitoring the matters set out in Schedule 6 at least once every three months and improving the quality of care provided in the children's home. (Regulation 34(1)(a)(b)) 18/10/2014

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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 children’s views, wishes and feelings are acted upon in the day-to- day running of the home and important decisions or changes in the child’s 6 of 11 life, unless this is contrary to their interests (NMS 1.1)  ensure the care and support provided to children minimises the risk that they will go missing and reduces the risk of harm should the child go missing. This is in relation to the provision of individual assessments of risk, detailing the actions staff should take in the event of a missing from care episode (NMS 5.1)  ensure staff are equipped with the knowledge that keeps them up-to-date with professional, legal and practice developments that reflects the policies, legal obligations and business needs of the home (NMS 18.1)  ensure allegations against people that work with children are reported by the designated person to the LADO. This includes allegations that on the face of it may appear relatively insignificant. (NMS 20.6)

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people are welcomed into the home and are encouraged to make a positive start towards their short break routines. Young people thoroughly enjoy their experiences, they are uniformly positive about their relationships with staff and the activities they get to do. Young people state, ‘we do lots of fun things, it's the best thing about coming here’ and ‘staff are really nice.’ Staff work in a coordinated and planned way to build familiar care and support practices that match each young person’s needs and circumstances. As a result, young people’s confidence builds as they use the service more often. One young person stated, ‘I felt a bit nervous at first, but now I'm getting used to it and I like coming.’

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people's needs in relation to their health and well-being are consistently met. Staff aim to maintain and improve young people’s health and fitness through the promotion of good diets and regular exercise. Medication is safely administered and closely monitored to ensure young people benefit from their prescribed medicines. Although young people’s health remains primarily the responsibility of their parents or carers, staff still obtain information about each young person’s needs to ensure they are being met.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

The home’s routines fully support young people in developing their social skills, leisure interests and maintaining their educational placements. Young people benefit from staff having effective links with schools to ensure key information is shared about individual arrangements. Young people’s education attendance and attainment is maintained in a way that reduces any potential for disruption. Strong links are kept with people significant in the lives of young people such as parents and other family members. This helps promote and provide continuity for existing relationships and attachments while on a short breaks stay.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people have positive relationships within the home and say they like the staff who look after them. Staff are enthusiastic and promote the benefits of positive behaviour, respect and consideration for others. This enabling approach supports young people to build relationships with others and to develop their emotional resilience and social skills further.

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Quality of care adequate

Staff are attentive and flexible as they get to know young people and learn about their histories and backgrounds. Staff are optimistic about their work and recognise that each young person has the potential to make progress despite some of their difficulties that brought them into the short breaks service in the first place. This 8 of 11 demonstrates the potential of the team to have a greater and lasting impact on young people’s behaviours in the future.

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Quality of care adequate

Overall, young people's views, wishes and feelings are acted upon in the day-to-day running of the home. They are enabled to make sensible choices and decisions that relate to their daily routines and care needs. Young people, placing social workers and families are able to raise any concerns they have about the service quickly and easily. However, the home’s records do not always reflect staff responses and resolutions to young people’s expressions of concern or anxiety about specific matters that relate to their care. Although solutions may have been achieved, record keeping is not robust enough to provide sufficient evidence that this is the case.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people develop their social and physical skills through the accessible and encouraging environment created by the staff team. Young people are supported to pursue their favoured leisure interests and try new activities. Staff regularly help young people to make choices about the use of their free time that includes accessing lots of community and recreational based venues. Staff ensure that young people enjoy their free time and are not disadvantaged because of their circumstances, backgrounds or abilities.

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Quality of care adequate

Each young person has a short breaks placement plan that provides key information about their individual circumstances and needs. However, these plans vary in quality and content despite referral information being available to use to formulate these plans. Although staff are aware of young people’s requirements, this knowledge is not consistently underpinned by written plans that set out how each young person’s identified needs and risks will be met and managed. Currently, written plans are not robust enough to provide a basis for accurately monitoring young people’s progress.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people are provided with safe and comfortable accommodation which is domestic in style and layout. The accommodation is maintained to a high standard and has benefited from recent improvements to the décor and furnishings. The home is kept very clean and tidy. Young people are provided with individual bedrooms, which are suitably maintained and furnished, one young person stating that, ‘I really like my bedroom.’ Young people also have access to a number of communal rooms, which gives them a choice in how they spend their recreational and leisure time.

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Quality of care adequate

Young people benefit from well-organised mealtimes that are planned to provide opportunities for everyone to socialise and chat. Staff encourage and support young people to participate and enjoy this domestic routine. One young person stating, ‘I really love the way the meals are set out and you can choose different foods.’

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

9 of 11 Young people feel safe with the staff who look after them. Overall, relationships within the home are friendly and supportive. Staff receive training in how to manage difficult behaviours, they are patient and take account of individual circumstances in support of proportionate and fair responses. Physical interventions are only used as a last resort and are very low in number. Sanctions are also used sometimes in response to poor behaviour but the measures taken are fair and proportionate. Since the home has been operating as a short breaks service, the use of either measure has not been necessary.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Staff know and understand when to report a safeguarding concern within the home and are clear when they would take appropriate action to keep young people safe. Any allegation a young person makes is recorded and reported to managers quickly. However, where a young person makes an allegation against a member of staff and then withdraws it, this information is not shared as a matter of routine with the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) as required. In these circumstances, the home’s approach to safeguarding is not robust or transparent. Young people’s safety and protection may be compromised in these circumstances.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

Generally, young people do not leave the home without permission or go missing from care, with only a small number of these events occurring since the last inspection. When this does happen, staff have followed agreed procedures and focused on gaining the safe return of young people as quickly as possible. Since opening as a short breaks service, young people have not behaved in this way. However, individualised assessments in relation to the vulnerability of young people are not currently completed. This brings into question how staff will be guided in their practice to manage risks associated with any young person being missing from care.

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Keeping children and young people safe adequate

The environment is physically safe and secure taking account of young people’s needs and circumstances. Fire safety training for staff and regular checks of fire prevention systems help to promote everyone’s health and safety. Fire drills are practiced by some young people but they are not held frequently enough to ensure everyone has participated in this important safety routine. Some young people may not know what to do if they need to leave the building quickly, which could compromise their safety.

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Leadership and management adequate

The experienced, qualified and longstanding Registered Manager provides effective leadership and support to an unchanged staff team. The Registered Manager is actively involved in the day-to-day operation of the home and is nearly always available and approachable to the team and young people. Open discussions about how the home is running are encouraged. This currently helps the qualified, experienced team reflect on how the newly commissioned service is developing for the benefit of young people who are using the service now and in the future. 10 of 11 The home’s statement of purpose has been reviewed and updated recently because the aims and function of the service have changed. The home has remained registered to accommodate young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties but now provides a residential short break service for young people who are close to being admitted into care. Young people and their families have access to a range of

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Leadership and management adequate

updated information about how the home operates and what to expect from the service.

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Leadership and management adequate

Overall, the home meets the aims and objectives of the statement of purpose. It places a strong emphasis on matching and planning for new arrivals, so full consideration is given to how the home will meet individual needs. However, the statement of purpose does not clearly describe how emergency admissions will be managed in this context. It does not describe the home’s use of alarms on young people’s bedroom doors or the required arrangements for its continued use. In addition, the home’s register does not provide key information about young people as required in regulation.

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Leadership and management adequate

Young people are cared for by a skilled team of staff who are positive about their roles and each individual they work with. Staff meetings and handovers between shifts ensure sharing of detailed information about young people supports consistent approaches to care. A range of training, appraisal and one-to-one supervision is provided. However, there is a lack of knowledge and awareness around key legislation and statutory guidance relevant to the provision of a short breaks service. In particular, the statutory and non-statutory arrangements for care planning and formal reviews which depend on each young person’s circumstances. Currently, the Registered Manager cannot determine if the legal status of each young person is correct and consistent with their situation.

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Leadership and management adequate

The Registered Manager actively seeks the views of young people, their parents and other stakeholders via face-to-face discussions and questionnaires as part of the home’s monitoring systems. Information is clearly being gathered to help inform managers about how the short breaks service is working. However, other necessary quality assurance measures are not strong. Required monitoring visits are not being carried out with the frequency prescribed in regulation. Reports do not fully reflect that a critical examination of the service has taken place by a person who is independent of the provider organisation. Furthermore, the Registered Manager’s own monitoring of the service does not follow prescribed routines. For example, feedback from young people is not formally evaluated as part of the quarterly quality assurance process. This means that there is no consistent record of the actions taken as a result of what young people say about the home. The arrangements for the

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Leadership and management adequate

Registered Manager to produce and share quality assurance reports with Ofsted every quarter are also not clear. Young people are not currently benefiting from the home having complete and robust quality assurance systems in place. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management adequate

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information 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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Information about this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the framework of inspection for children's homes.

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