Children's home run by Leeds City Council in Leeds

Inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded.

p.2

The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Some young people continue to smoke in their bedrooms which is hazardous to their health and safety. The efforts made by staff to control this are ineffective.  Staff do not consistently follow individual risk assessments. Some risk assessments are not up to date and do not reflect young people‟s current behaviours. Therefore, it is not clear how and whether staff are managing behaviours appropriately. This potentially leaves young people at risk.  On occasions, poor group management results in young people‟s behaviours affecting each other. In addition, lack of boundaries and clear expectations result in situations escalating, both within the building and the home‟s minibus. This creates high levels of risk.  The numbers of staff on shift are insufficient to safely manage young people‟s behaviour.  Confidential information, keys to vehicles, and property belonging to staff is not always held securely.

p.3

The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Some young people„s bedrooms are not clean and contain broken furniture. Staff do not take adequate action to maintain physical standards

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

6. The quality and purpose of care standard

p.4

Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard with particular reference to keeping young people‟s bedrooms clean and well maintained, the registered person must:

p.4

Requirement Due date

(b)(ii) ensure that staff protect and promote each child‟s welfare 01 July 2016

p.4

Requirement Due date

12. The protection of children standard In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to keeping vehicles secure, the registered person must ensure:

p.4

Requirement Due date

(2)(b) that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm 01 July 2016

p.4

Requirement Due date

12. The protection of children standard In order to meet the protection of children standard with particular reference to maintaining up to date risk assessments on each young person and ensuring that staff act in accordance with them the registered person must ensure:

p.4

Requirement Due date

(2)(a) that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. 01 July 2016 13. The leadership and management standard

p.4

Requirement Due date

With particular reference to maintaining a level of staffing which is adequate to meet young people‟s needs, keep them safe, and provide a good balance of individual and group activities, the registered person must:

p.5

Requirement Due date

(2)(d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide for each child. 01 July 2016

p.5

Requirement Due date

With reference to managing the risk of fire caused by young people smoking in their rooms, the registered person must:

p.5

Requirement Due date

Take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children‟s home. (Regulation 25(1)(a)) 01 July 2016

p.5

Requirement Due date

With reference to keeping confidential information secure, the registered person must ensure that the following items, which may be kept in electronic form, are kept in an accessible manner:

p.5

Requirement Due date

Children‟s case records, and other records. Regulation 38(i) and (j)) 01 July 2016

p.5

Requirement Due date

With particular reference to evaluating the views of young people, the registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. The system must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(1) and (5)) 01 July 2016

p.5

Information about this children's home

The home accommodates up to five children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a local authority.

p.6

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.6

Recent inspection history

19/11/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.6

Recent inspection history

25/02/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

p.6

people living in the home are

Staff work hard to create positive relationships with young people but they have not been successful in engaging all young people living in the home. Some young people leave the home without informing staff of where they are going. On these occasions s taff do not know where they are or what they are doing. There have been recent instances where young people have engaged in criminal risk taking behaviour, such as, carrying a knife and stealing the home‟s minibus. This places them at significant risk of harm.

p.7

people living in the home are

The complex and competing demands of individual needs means that at times staff cannot effectively manage all young people‟s behaviour. On occasions, some incidents require two staff to safely manage the situation, which leaves the third member of staff on duty to deal with equally challenging incidents. This leaves staff in a vulnerable position and some say they are tired and stressed. This affects the level and quality of care young people receive and potentially means that staff are not able to manage situations safely and in line with risk management plans.

p.7

people living in the home are

Staff offer a nurturing approach to young people. They strive to form positive relationships with individuals and build trust. One young person commented `I like the staff, you can talk to them.‟ As a result, some young people have now started to open up and tell staff about their worries.

p.7

people living in the home are

Despite the efforts of staff to educate young people about the risks of smoking and substance misuse, some young people continue to smoke cigarettes and use cannabis. This is a significant health risk. Some young people enjoy activities such as climbing, walking and biking, which promote their physical health. Young people are able to access services where they receive emotional support. This provides them with an extended support network allowing them personal space to explore their feelings.

p.7

people living in the home are

Some young people‟s bedrooms contain cracked mirrors, broken wardrobes and drawers. This does not promote young people‟s sense of value and belonging. Some bedroom floors have clothes, old food, dirty dishes and rubbish on them. This makes it hard to walk on the floor safely and creates an unhygienic environment, which smells. Sink areas are dirty. Young people said `in those bedrooms it‟s a right mess and they stink.‟ This is not setting good standards for young people. Staff work hard to promote young people‟s education. There have been improvements made to young people‟s attendance. For those who have been struggling in certain school placements staff have listened to young people‟s views and found them new provisions. It is too early to evaluate the impact of these changes. Staff work closely with school to support young people to attend. One individual has managed full attendance for the month of April, which is a significant

p.7

people living in the home are

improvement from their starting point. For others, attendance remains inconsistent. For those who cannot manage full time school, home tutors provide in-house education. Young people respond well to incentives to engage in this. Promoting young people‟s education is helping them to prepare for later life.

p.8

people living in the home are

Young people enjoy a range of activities such as trampolining, swimming, cinema and meals out. One young person commented „the best thing is going to the caravan.‟ This helps to broaden young people‟s life experience and improves their social skills and confidence.

p.8

people living in the home are

How well children and young people are helped and protected Inadequate

p.8

people living in the home are

Staff do not consistently follow young people‟s individual risk assessments. For example, by failing to remove items such as cigarette lighters. Some young people‟s risk assessments do not reflect their current behaviours and do not match what is on their crisis intervention plans. As a result, there are no clear risk management strategies for staff to manage some challenging behaviours. Other agencies are not always involved in identifying risk and informing the best approach to managing risky behaviours. This does not lead to considered decision making and the reduction of risk to young people.

p.8

people living in the home are

Despite staff efforts to manage complex and challenging behaviour, at times behaviour escalates resulting in young people being in dangerous situations. On occasions, young people‟s behaviour influences each other. This has resulted in the group engaging in dangerous incidents both inside and outside the home, such as climbing drainpipes and lighting aerosols. At times, young people exhibit dangerous behaviour when travelling in the minibus. For example, taking off their seatbelts and climbing over seats. On one occasion, young people stole the keys to the minibus and drove it away. Staff are appropriately focused on using de- escalation techniques before resorting to physical restraint. As a result, there are a low number of incidents requiring this intervention. When staff do physically intervene, they do this safely and appropriately.

p.8

people living in the home are

Some young people continue to smoke in their bedrooms and on occasion the smoke detectors have been disabled by them. Staff do not carry out sufficient checks of the detectors and they have not been successful in tackling these behaviours. This presents a significant risk to children and young people.

p.8

people living in the home are

Some young people go missing from the home on a regular basis. During this time, they have engaged in dangerous activity such as getting in to vehicles driven by other young people not known to the staff. When young people do go missing staff are proactive in looking for them. They work closely with the police and social workers to help them find the young people as soon as possible.

p.9

people living in the home are

Staff are confident in following safeguarding procedures. They are quick to report concerns to relevant professionals and share information to help keep young people safe. Staff are alert to the signs of bullying. They intervene where necessary to address any issues, which occur between young people.

p.9

people living in the home are

Staff are aware of the risks of child sexual exploitation and internet abuse. They are vigilant in spotting any signs that young people might be putting themselves in situations where they are vulnerable. Some young people have benefited from education around sexual exploitation and have now been able to keep themselves safe by reporting issues to staff.

p.9

leaders and managers

The registered manager has been in post since August 2012 and is appropriately qualified and experienced to undertake this role. However, there is insufficient staff to manage safely some of the challenging behaviours of young people. The manager frequently assists staff, which compromises her ability to effectively oversee the home.

p.9

leaders and managers

Monitoring of the quality of care in the home by the manager is not effective. Day- to-day monitoring has failed to address the serious shortfalls seen during this inspection. The registered manager‟s monitoring reports are focused on process, for example, in relation to how children and young people‟s views are secured but reports do not evaluate their feedback about the home and the quality of care they receive. As a result suggestions to make improvements are lost. The reports carried out by some one independent of the home have highlighted the concerns found during this inspection, but the home has not taken action to address them.

p.9

leaders and managers

Action has not been taken to address concern raised at the last inspection in May 2015, relating to the homes upkeep and maintenance. Areas inside the home look tired and worn, particularly the paintwork upstairs on the landing and in young people‟s bedrooms. The garden is overgrown and the grass needs cutting. The registered manager reports that refurbishment is scheduled but no date is confirmed. Currently the environment is not homely and does not promote young people‟s value and self-worth. .

p.9

leaders and managers

As a result of inadequate security in the office young people have been able to access keys to a minibus. Privacy is compromised as they have easy access to confidential information. This results in incidents such as young people taking and driving the minibus and young people accessing confidential information. The home has a new paperless recording system but this is not yet working efficiently. As a result, staff are not easily able to access information to help them care for young people.

p.10

leaders and managers

All staff feel well supported by senior managers in supporting management of challenging behaviour. One staff member commented `We are well supported; they are fine, they are there if you need them, and they will come in if they are not on duty.‟ Staff receive regular supervision. This helps them feel supported and gives them confidence to undertake their role.

p.10

leaders and managers

Staff receive good training opportunities. The staff are committed to their behaviour management training, which is supporting staff to manage young people‟s behaviour and reflect on care practices. This training is in early stages and its impact cannot be fully evaluated. Positive links with other professionals such as the behaviour management consultant, therapeutic workers, police, school and social workers support good information sharing and help staff to understand young people‟s needs.

p.10

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.

p.11

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

p.11

What the inspection judgements mean

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

p.11

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

p.12

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 .

p.12

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, workbased 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,

p.13

Information about this inspection

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

p.13

Information about this inspection

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

p.13

Information about this inspection

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

p.13