Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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because:

 Young people do not always agree with their care plan. They receive inaccurate information, which impacts on their wellbeing.  Young people’s care plans change without notice.  Risks to young people following admission are not always clear to staff.  Young people at risk of harm are accommodated without the necessary looked after documentation and plans.   Staff do not have the skills to meet the highly complex needs of some young people.  There are some delays in staff accessing training to update their knowledge and skills regarding self-harming behaviours.   The admissions register does not accurately reflect the days young people stay at the home and their discharge details.  Following a recent inadequate judgement, the home has made some progress in relation to safeguarding practices.

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The children's home strengths

 The manager and staff team are experienced, flexible and committed to meeting the needs of children and young people. They work hard to provide them with the best possible service.  The Registered Manager and staff team have made improvements since the last inspection.  The staff team make good relationships with young people.

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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 (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to – (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; (e) ensure that the homes workforce provides continuity of care to each child. This is with specific reference to not changing young people’s care plans at short notice. 11/09/15

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Requirement Due date

14: The care planning standard (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure – that each child’s relevant plans are followed. In particular reference to having the necessary care plans for all looked after children 11/09/15

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records for each child which- include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child (Regulation 36 (1) (a)). With specific reference to all necessary looked after documentation 11/09/15

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must- maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4: ensure the records are kept up to date (Regulation 37 (2)(a)(b)). Specific attention to be given to the accurate recording of dates and details in the admissions register. 11/09/15

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Information about this children's home

The local authority owns and manages the multiple service provision. It provides short break respite care and support to children deemed on the ‘edge of care’ and their carers to prevent placement breakdown. The home provides emergency care and accommodation for children within the city. The home can accommodate up to four children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. This includes two beds for respite and short-term provision and one emergency bed. In addition, the home has provision for a PACE bed.

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requires improvement

Young people receive incorrect details about their care plan. Their care arrangements change at short notice. This can be very upsetting for young people leaving them feeling insecure. One young person states, ‘The plan they have agreed is messing with my head. I can’t cope with this level of change. It’s not good for me.’

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requires improvement

Changes to young people’s care plans at short notice changes lead to confusion within the staff team. For example, with complex young people, management agree to block further admissions and increase staffing arrangements to prioritise the needs of complex young people. However, late changes lead to inconsistent planning and confusion within the staff and management team.

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requires improvement

Young people are supported to build trusting relationships with staff. The staff team invest time in young people enabling them to open up and share their views. Some young people feel able to disclose their feelings. A young person says, ‘Staff here are nice. I get on with them.’

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requires improvement

Young people maintain school placements. Staff support those without existing school placements to access alternative education provision. Where this is not forthcoming, they advocate on behalf of young people pursuing their right to an education.

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requires improvement

Staff promote young people’s health and wellbeing. Young people benefit from nutritious meals and regular forms of exercise. Some young people take long walks with staff in local parks. Staff support young people at times of crisis providing them with the tools they need to build resilience.

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requires improvement

Contact with friends and family enables young people to maintain a sense of identity. Partnership working leads to good relationships and supports placements at risk of breaking down. Both young people and carers benefit.

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requires improvement

The short-term emergency provision means admissions are often without prior notice. Young people rarely have the opportunity to visit before admission. In some cases depending on their length of stay, young people prepare for transition following an introductory visit. This enables young people to invest in their new placement and meet the staff that will care for them following the move. Judgement grade

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requires improvement

Staff are not always clear of the risks to young people. Routine arrangements are not always known leaving staff to use their personal judgement about how often to check on high risk individuals during the night. This exposes young people to inconsistent actions and responses from staff increasing the potential for further harm.

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requires improvement

The nature of the emergency provision often leaves little scope for staff to plan and risk assess in advance of some admissions. Written risk assessments have improved but require embedding. These now identify risk from young people’s behaviours. However, strategies are not always personalised to young people. This makes it difficult for staff to understand the specific actions necessary to keep individual young people safe.

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requires improvement

Staff are supported to refresh their knowledge of the missing persons protocol. This has led to missing from care practices improving. Records relating to missing young people now capture essential information leading to a more coordinated response. As a result, this minimises the risk of harm to young people and increasing the chances of a timely and safe return.

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requires improvement

Staff respond to young people’s behaviours and implement strategies to protect them from abusive behaviours such as self-harm, substance misuse and sexual exploitation. They seek to understand the triggers for these behaviours and make efforts to help young people feel secure during their stay at the home. This leads to young people feeling safe and a reduction in risk-taking behaviours.

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requires improvement

There have been no instances requiring physical intervention with young people. Staff use their practice experiences and knowledge of de-escalation strategies to safely manage complex and challenging situations. As a result, young people respond to their warm and genuine efforts. This enables them to openly share their concerns and talk about their experiences. Judgement grade

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requires improvement

The Registered Manager is both experienced and qualified. She has been in post since registration in January 2015.

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requires improvement

The previous inspection in June 2015 was judged inadequate leading to compliance action. Since then, the home has demonstrated some progress and has taken step to address the shortfalls raised in the compliance notice.

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requires improvement

The notice refered to preventing further cancellations of respite arrangements. The recent introduction of a shared living risk assessment is assisting staff to manage and plan emergency placements alongside respite arrangements. This new process, once embedded will lead to better planning resulting in fewer cancellations of respite placements.

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requires improvement

The notice raised the need for clarity in decision-making with risk assessments and care plans spelling out the day-to-day needs of young people. It highlights the importance of the home only accepting referrals where they are able to meet young people’s needs. A new risk assessment tool is helping staff to assess the levels of risk young people pose to themselves and others. Furthermore, liaison with placing social working has led to them having a better understanding of the homes need for looked after documentation at admission. Further embedding will help establish the changes.

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requires improvement

There continue to be shortfalls in meeting some requirements from the last inspection. These relate specifically to looked-after documentation not always being available. In some cases, care and placement plans are still not available several days after placement. This means some young people may experience detrimental delay in their health, education and safeguarding arrangements with their day-to-day assessed care needs not met.

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requires improvement

There is some delay with staff accessing missing and self-harming training. Management are making efforts to equip staff with this learning. Some staff say their existing knowledge and experience is not adequate at addressing highly complex and challenging behaviours. An experienced member of staff says, ‘I felt as a staff team we were able to meet some of the young person’s needs but not all.’ This means due consideration is not given to meeting young people’s holistic needs.

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requires improvement

The manager has implemented three separate registers to log admissions and discharges for their service provision. However, gaps and incorrect information is noted in the separate registers. This can lead to confusion with staff and stakeholders. The Statement of Purpose did not fully reflect the homes functioning and ethos. This has been amended to reflect the efforts staff make in supporting looked after young people to maintain their existing placements. As a result, stakeholders and commissioners receive a clear account of the work undertaken by the service.

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requires improvement

The Registered Manager has started to implement a higher staffing ratio where this is warranted. This means young people are more likely to be supervised in line with their care requirements. Waking night staff have more insight about when to wake the sleep-in staff and request support. This has improved their confidence and ability to address difficulties and concerns during the night. After embedding, the introduction of new auditing practices will enable the management to identify current and ongoing recording deficits. Coupled with existing monitoring practices this will help minimise the impact on young people allowing staff to respond quickly to shortfalls.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, 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 who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, work based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, 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 www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Text phone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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