Children's home run by Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull, City of

inspection

Five compliance notices were issued as a result of the last full inspection. A monitoring visit was undertaken at the same time as the inspection on 06/09/2016 and 07/09/2016 to assess the improvements made with regard to the following regulations:

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inspection

Regulation 5 Regulation 12 Regulation 13 Regulation 14 Regulation 44

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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:

 At the last inspection, this children’s home was judged inadequate. Senior managers have taken responsibility for the strategic management failures for instructing the registered manager to accept placements over the home’s registered numbers. The responsible individual has since given clear assurances to the registered manager, the staff team and Ofsted that this poor practice will not happen again.  There have been no new admissions since the last inspection and no breaches of the home’s conditions of registration. There are no immediate plans for new young people to move into the home when the current young people leave.  Five compliance notices and a number of requirements raised following the last inspection have been suitably met overall. However, the compliance notice steps that relate to hazards in the home, the standard and condition of young people’s bedrooms and staff training warrant further attention.

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because:

Requirements raised in these areas are intended to stimulate improvement.  The positive changes to improve care practices in all aspects of young people’s lives and to evaluate progress are not yet fully embedded to ensure consistently good childcare and measurable outcomes.  The absence of pathway planning for eligible young people impedes their preparations for independence.  Missing information from the internal management monitoring review does not make clear how the views of others have an impact on service delivery. The absence of an action plan does not indicate how the manager intends to prioritise, and therefore improve, services for young people.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 Young people are developing positive relationships with staff, and the involvement of some of them in activities is testament to the staff team’s skills of engagement.  Most young people have rekindled their interest in attending school and college, thus improving confidence in their abilities and enhancing their future employment prospects.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 Some young people are reducing their substance misuse and consumption of alcohol, which slowly improves their emotional health and behaviours.

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The children’s home’s strengths

 Staff understand the risks to young people’s safety and welfare and talk to them about keeping safe. They communicate effectively with other professionals to ensure that there are good working-together practices that are in young people’s best interests and add to their safety.

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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 positive relationships standard, (2) the registered person must ensure- (a) that staff- (vi) help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful. 31/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to fixing the facias, carrying out works to the roof, upgrading the young people’s rooms to a high standard and maintaining the back garden (2) the registered manager must ensure: (d) that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. 30/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard (2) the registered manager must ensure- (b) that arrangements are in place to- (iii) plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority. 31/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) This is with specific reference to ensuring regular and recorded staff supervision. 31/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review, the registered person must maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and 29/02/2017 evaluating- any actions that the registered manager considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (2)(c)(5))

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary when there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20). This is specifically in relation to developing a room search protocol that makes clear the rationale for making room searches, the process to be followed, young people’s involvement and maintaining records in conjunction with the Ofsted guidance.

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority managed children’s home is registered to provide a service for up to five young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 15/07/2016 Full Inadequate 19/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/11/2015 Full Requires improvement 19/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Since the last inspection, and in response to compliance notices issued, the responsible individual, registered manager and senior managers now have a coherent understanding of the importance of making appropriate placements and the need for robust and meaningful impact risk assessments. There have been no new admissions since the last inspection and no breaches of the home’s conditions of registration. There are no immediate plans for new young people to move into the home when the current young people leave. Consequently, this affords all of the young people a safer environment and more stability than they have previously experienced at the home.

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Requires improvement

The manager and staff team have been working towards improving the experiences and outcomes of the young people who live at the home through care practices. As a result, most of the young people’s daily experiences have started to show signs of improvement after a period of significant decline. An independent reviewing officer said, ‘He has started coming back to the home and has settled somewhat.’ A social worker said, ‘It’s the best place for him to be.’

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Requires improvement

Young people’s relationships with staff and peers continue to develop, and there have been no recent reports of bullying. The staff team has recently started to invest in initiatives to engage young people. For example, taking day trips out to the coast and places of interest during the summer holidays. This is empowering young people to revisit their early childhood years away from the peer pressure of their social groups. The introduction of Thursday takeaway evenings enable young people and staff to spend more quality time together. A minority of young people have responded well and those showing signs of resistance continue to be encouraged by staff to spend more time at the home. The manager has acknowledged that individual key work sessions with young people and the use of other forums are yet to materialise. Therefore, supporting young people’s individual plans and better capturing their wishes and feelings through a range of available

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Requires improvement

mechanisms are yet to be established. Helping young people to understand how relationships can be supportive or harmful shows room for improvement.

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Requires improvement

Most young people have a rekindled interest in attending school and college after the summer break. Although this potentially improves their future life chances, it is too early to measure their sustained progress. Similarly, young people’s health outcomes in relation to smoking, alcohol and illicit substance misuse, continue to be a cause for concern. However, their intermittent engagement with substance misuse workers, including individual and drop-in breakfast sessions, provide young people with opportunities to engage and get help to reduce their consumption of drugs and alcohol. A parent said, ‘His cannabis use has reduced massively.’ The staff team continues to consult with the clinical psychologist who is a valuable source of support to the team, providing advice and practical strategies to meet young people’s emotional health and behavioural needs.

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Requires improvement

Contact arrangements between young people and family members help young people to maintain their culture and their sense of identity, and to rebuild relationships, which for some is leading to their planned return home. Amicable communication between the staff team and families result in a supportive environment that keeps them involved in their child’s progress. Staff support young people to acquire skills that help them to do more for themselves. For example, preparing meals, cleaning, laundering and travelling independently. However, the eligible young people do not have pathway assessments or pathway plans, which does not help them or professionals to review their achievements and to prosper within realistic timescales.

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Requires improvement

In response to a compliance notice raised following the last inspection, risk management systems have improved. Staff have reviewed young people’s risk assessments and the manager continues to develop them to ensure that they are sufficiently detailed and robust. Staff understand the individual risks that can present a danger to young people’s safety and welfare and they talk to them about keeping safe. Staff have pre-empted the need for additional training to help them to safeguard young people confidently when they return home under the influence of substances. The staff team’s working relationships with other professional partners, such as the police, social workers, other relevant services and some parents have improved to ensure that there are well-informed communications and decision-making. This helps to minimise harm, particularly in relation to those young people whose behaviours expose them to child sexual exploitation and other

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Requires improvement

No progress has been made to resolve the physical improvement in relation to fixing the facias and carrying out work to the roof. This remains an outstanding issue and the provider continues to pursue this matter with stakeholders.

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Requires improvement

The risk of fire remains a serious concern, as some young people continue to smoke in their rooms, with no evidence of consistent staff monitoring. The absence of a clear room search protocol has led to an ineffective process. It lacks transparency and management oversight to ensure that the correct actions are followed that result in minimised risks to everyone’s health and safety. This recommendation is repeated.

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Requires improvement

The staff team are now more proactive at de-escalating young people’s challenging behaviours. This promotes opportunities for staff to confront young people’s negative behaviours, to promote socially acceptable attributes and to avoid criminalising them where possible. On occasions, those young people in crisis have caused physical harm to staff and the environment, and on one occasion, this has led to a physical intervention. Reflection on behaviours has led to those young people involved expressing remorse and apologising for their actions. In other instances, staff are able to reason with young people who present with verbal aggression without the need for violence. The young person’s social worker said, ‘I have seen a definite improvement and ability to deal with anger issues.’ These are measurable progress areas. Sanctions are minimal and they are proportionate in relation to unacceptable behaviours.

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Requires improvement

The manager and staff team works in close communication with the police and other safeguarding professionals to ensure that they promote the safe return of young people that are missing from home. Staff proactively and relentlessly search for those that are missing from home, often having sight of and speaking with them. However, not all young people choose to return with staff, when they do, they do not stay for long and remain missing for lengthy periods. The increased risk-taking behaviour of one young person has been of sufficient concern to invoke further measures to secure their safety. They are safer now in a secure environment, which is testament to the good working-together practices between the staff team and external professionals.

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Requires improvement

The manager is a qualified social worker who has held registered management responsibility since January 2015. Her experience of working with young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties spans over 20 years.

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Requires improvement

Further to the compliance notices raised at the last inspection, the manager has not accepted any further placements, which complies with the home’s revised statement of purpose. Senior managers fully acknowledge, and have taken responsibility for, the strategic management failures for instructing the registered manager to accept placements over their agreed numbers. This led to the manager breaching the conditions of registration. The responsible individual has given assurances that such unsafe practice will not happen again. This reinstates the registered manager’s autonomy to make appropriate, safe placements and to challenge senior managers should they threaten this position in the future. The proactive steps taken by senior managers through the formation of a task and finish group ensure that there is joined-up working with partners in the local authority, pooling together resources to improve service delivery.

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Requires improvement

There have been no complaints made since the last inspection. The management is committed to the improvement agenda and there continues to be a residential review within the local authority, which will determine how this children’s home will operate.

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Requires improvement

The manager has identified a number of strengths and weakness, which she includes in her internal monitoring review of the home. She has undertaken to further develop care and risk management documents to show the impact on young people’s progress, and to satisfy herself through checking that the quality of work delegated to staff is completed to a good standard. However, aspects of her monitoring are not fully developed and embedded to show the difference that living at the home makes to the lives of the young people. The manager has not identified her own action plan to effect improvements, especially in light of the strategic management failings. The opinions of parents, placing authorities and staff have not been considered as part of her review to inform the action plan. This requirement is repeated.

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Requires improvement

In response to the compliance notices set at the last inspection, some improvements to young people’s rooms are evident, but still do not meet high quality standards with respect to personalisation, cleanliness and hygiene. For example, basic or mismatched furniture, the ingrained grime in some bedrooms, including a wall in one of the rooms, described by the manager as the ‘snot wall’, does not instil confidence in understanding how young people are nurtured and encouraged to take pride and invest in their private space. Similarly, the broken locks on the window and door of a young person’s room have not been detected and repaired. The graffiti in the computer room and the replacement of the damaged noticeboard have not been attended to. These shortfalls are not compatible with the statement of purpose aims and objectives, which, among other matters, is to, ‘Provide a homely and stimulating atmosphere.’ The front garden is

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Requires improvement

well maintained, following input from some of the young people who have been involved in gardening. However, the back garden is overgrown and in need of remedial attention.

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Requires improvement

Since the last inspection, a new independent visitor has started to visit the home. There is improvement in their initial report when compared to previous reports. However, it is too early to evaluate the impact of this change, and they are yet to demonstrate the ‘critical friend’ approach by ensuring that there are robust reports that also meet the regulations.

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Requires improvement

Developments in addressing staff training to ensure that there is a fully competent and confident workforce in caring for older young people is currently in its infancy. Plans for regular and recorded staff supervision have not been achieved, because of unexpected staffing issues. The manager is addressing this matter with senior management support to ensure that all staff feel fully supported and well managed. This requirement is repeated.

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Requires improvement

Notifications sent to Ofsted provide an oversight of risk and the actions taken by the provider. This helps Ofsted to carry out its safeguarding duties and to take any required action.

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Requires improvement

Improved partnerships and communication between the staff team and professionals ensure that young people’s complex needs and increased risks lead to safer outcomes, thus minimising risk to their safety and welfare. Professionals confirm that they receive regular updates from the manager and staff team and say they are, ‘Always welcomed to the home.’

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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’. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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

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

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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