Children's home run by Norfolk County Council in Norwich

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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The children’s home provision requires improvement because:

 While the management team has made improvements since the last inspection, there is further work needed to get to good.  Individual risk assessments contain inaccuracies and inconsistencies.  Individual risk assessments do not consider e-safety.  In one case, care planning documents are not clear or up to date regarding contact arrangements for a child at risk of child sexual exploitation.   Group risk assessments contain inaccuracies.  The manager did not notify Ofsted when an allegation was made against a member of staff.  The staff do not have access to training in relation to risks associated with radicalisation.  One child has not experienced a fire drill since arriving at the home.

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The children’s home strengths

 Children make some progress in the short time they are in the home.  Relationships with the police have improved.  Interactions between the staff and the children are positive.  External professionals report that the staff have a good understanding of the risks associated with child sexual exploitation.  The children have access to independent people with whom they can share concerns.

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, the registered provider must:

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Requirement Due date

(2) (a)(iv) ensure that staff manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other. This is with particular regard to ensuring that pre-admission risk assessments include clear, accurate and up-to-date information regarding the young people. 21 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular regard to ensuring that individual risk assessments are consistent and up to date and known to the staff and that risks associated with e-safety are fully assessed, the registered provider must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

2 (a)(i) 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. 21 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular regard to making sure that contact arrangements are clear, accurate and up to date in the relevant plans, ensure:

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Requirement Due date

(2) (d) that contact between each child and the child’s parents, relatives and friends, is promoted in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. 21 July 2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant 21 July 2016 person without delay if there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40 (4)(c))

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure children feel safe and are safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. This is with particular regard to ensuring that children experience a fire drill as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff should have the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the home’s workforce plan. This relates to staff receiving training in radicalisation. ( ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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Information about this children’s home

A local authority runs the home. The home is registered to care for six children with emotional and behavioural difficulties, and is a crisis intervention, assessment and reunification service.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16 October 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

16 July 2014 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Contact arrangements for one child are unclear in their care plan and risk assessment. While the contact arrangements are fluid, the records are not consistent or up to date. This is concerning as the child is considered to be at risk of child sexual exploitation and there has already been some confusion between the home and the social worker regarding contact arrangements. While the social worker is clear that these issues are now resolved, stating, ‘things have improved recently’, the lack of clarity in the plans heightens the potential for further issues in the future.

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Requires improvement

One child has not experienced a fire drill. This is despite the home’s statement of purpose explicitly stating that all new residents will have a fire drill.

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Requires improvement

The children are cared for by staff who are interested in them and want them to progress and succeed. These qualities assist children in forming quick relationships with the staff. This is significant in a service with a quick turnaround of children. Interactions are positive, with the staff communicating effectively with all of the children. Relationships appear warm and supportive. Staff who had earlier been hurt by a child were engaging positively with him once he had calmed down.

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Requires improvement

There is a high turnover of children, as the service provides time-limited care to children in crisis. This means that children frequently arrive at the home in an emergency. Children often arrive having been out of education. The service works with the virtual school to try to improve the children’s engagement, with varying degrees of success. One child who arrived, who was out of education, attended school every day while in the home. The children are working at varying educational levels. The designated teacher in one school was very positive about the engagement with the staff and managers in the home: ‘They are very flexible and I was able to go and meet with the team and discuss how to work with him within 48 hours of the emergency placement.’

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Requires improvement

The children make some progress with their physical and mental health needs. For example, some children have reduced the amount they smoke. Others have reduced their levels of self-harm. Staff make links with specialist external agencies, to support meeting children’s needs in respect of the emotional and psychological wellbeing.

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Requires improvement

The staff provide the children with information about the home when they move in. If necessary, they adapt this information to meet the child’s own communication needs. The most recent resident was able to explain how the staff had made her feel welcome and how they had ensured that she knew what she needed to know about the home. She said that the staff gave her a welcome booklet and that she was clear on its content. This helps children to feel less anxious about the transition into care.

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Requires improvement

Frequent residents’ meetings take place. The children report that the staff listen to them and are interested in what they have to say. They feel that the staff stand up for them. The children are able to say who they can raise concerns with. A newly placed child was clear about the variety of ways she could make a complaint or raise a concern.

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Requires improvement

The children’s care plans and risk assessments need to improve. While they are more in-depth than previous versions, the approach to updating them has not been effective, and as a result some contain inaccuracies. This means that there is a risk that staff who access these records are getting out-of-date information.

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Requires improvement

The children’s risk assessments do not consider the risks posed by the internet. They do not explore issues such as online bullying, grooming or abuse. While the staff report that the children do not access the internet in the home, children are likely to access this outside of the home.

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Requires improvement

The home accepts children on an emergency basis. The management team completes group risk assessments prior to accepting children. These are more thorough than previous versions. However, they contain inaccuracies. The practice of typing over the last document when completing a new one has resulted in some areas of documents not making sense and other areas containing out-of-date information. As a result, the information contained within them is at times confusing and does not lend itself to robust analysis

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Requires improvement

The children report that they feel safe in the home. They are able to say what they can do if they are unhappy. They are able to identify people they can speak with to raise concerns. They have access to a range of professionals with whom they can share worries. This includes social workers, advocates and specialist child sexual exploitation workers.

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Requires improvement

The staff have worked hard to improve relationships with the police. There are frequent visits from the local safer neighbourhood team. Contact with the police arising from behavioural issues has decreased over recent months, following a period of high police involvement during the Christmas holidays. The police state that they now only receive contact when it is appropriate and necessary.

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Requires improvement

The staff are working with children with histories of going missing. In some instances there has been a drop in the number of missing incidents for children once they have come to live at the home. The police report that the staff respond appropriately when the children do go missing. They are reported to the appropriate authorities and their individual protocol is followed. The children have access to independent people when they return from missing.

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Requires improvement

The staff frequently work with children who are at risk of child sexual exploitation. The staff have received training in this area. A social worker for one child stated: ‘They have a good understanding of child sexual exploitation.’ A police officer stated: ‘They are very knowledgeable around the issues.’ The staff have links with local child sexual exploitation support groups and have ensured that there is continuity for one child who has an established relationship with a specialist support worker.

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Requires improvement

Until recently there has been little recourse to physical intervention within the home, with staff primarily managing children’s behaviour through de-escalation techniques. The arrival of a child with particular needs has seen a significant increase in the number of physical interventions. However, his social worker stated: ‘This is much less than at the family home. Staff are good at de-escalating. His behaviour has improved considerably since coming in.’

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Requires improvement

A permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager has been in post for 19 months. An enthusiastic, committed and respected qualified senior residential care practitioner supports her.

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Requires improvement

The management team has improved the quality of the group risk assessments, which was a requirement at the last inspection, but these require further work to be good enough.

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Requires improvement

Managers have addressed two of the three recommendations made at the last inspection. The children are receiving regular return interviews when they return from missing and the staff are informed of any relevant content. Independent monitoring visits are now much more rigorous and have the potential to contribute to the necessary improvement. The third recommendation related to notifications. In one instance since the last inspection, the manager did not made a notification to Ofsted following an allegation of abuse against a member of staff. While the manager ensured that the designated officer was informed, and although the allegation was unfounded, the lack of a notification impacts on Ofsted’s ability to monitor the service effectively.

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Requires improvement

The staff team has been reinforced by the arrival of staff from another home. This has meant that no new permanent staff have had to be recruited from outside the organisation. The management team is aware of the staff team’s strengths and areas for development. The staff receive regular supervision and team meetings take place frequently. This helps to provide relevant support to enable staff to undertake their roles effectively.

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Requires improvement

The staff have access to a range of training opportunities. They are appropriately qualified. However, they have not been able to access training in relation to children at risk of radicalisation, despite, on occasion, accommodating children for whom this may be a concern. As a result, there are gaps in the knowledge of the staff team in this area.

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Requires improvement

The staff work hard to maintain effective relationships with families and external professionals. The police report improved relationships and social workers are generally positive about the approach to working together. The management team has engaged with the local community to ensure that children are able to have access to the services they need. As a result, children who may otherwise have experienced isolation and alienation have been able to explore their identities.

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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 children looked after 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 children looked after 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 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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