Children's Home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in Stoke-on-Trent

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:

 Young people do not always receive adequate support to develop their independence skills.  Some areas of the home are poorly maintained and furnished.  Some staff are not adequately vetted prior to working in the home.  Staff do not always administer medication in line with the prescriber’s instructions.  The response of staff to challenging behaviour is inconsistent.  Staff do not always receive training in a timely way.  Some aspects of record-keeping are poor.  The registered manager has failed to address a number of previous shortfalls.

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The children's home strengths

 Some young people conquer long-standing phobias because of the support they receive from staff.  Staff have strong relationships with all young people.  Staff have developed effective relationships with families and other professionals.  All staff feel well supported by the management team.

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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

6. The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, with particular reference to independence and the standard of the premises, the registered person must ensure that staff– (2) (b) (vi) help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

(c) (i) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. 07/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that no measure of control or discipline which is excessive or unreasonable may be used in relation to any child. (Regulation 19(1)) 07/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children's home. (Regulation 23(1)) 07/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to all staff in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(3)(d)) 07/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(vii)) 07/10/2016

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 Ensure that in instances when a child expresses wishes that are not in their best interests, the responsible adults balance the wishes of the child against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests and reach a reasonable view about the best way forward. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.9)  Ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  Ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  Ensure that the recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential

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Recommendations

risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  Ensure that staff are familiar with the home's policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, clear recording. Ensure that information about the child is always recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this children's home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to two children or young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A local authority operates the home. The home only supports young people from the local authority’s area.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 09/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/06/2015 Full Good 13/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 22/08/2014 Full Adequate

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Requires improvement

Young people have strong relationships with staff and trust them. For some this is a substantial achievement. This is due to a small, consistent staff team that enjoys spending time with them. This ensures that young people receive individualised care. It has also allowed staff to support a young person to make significant achievements. Specifically, staff worked with the young person to combat his fear of water and his fear of heights. The young person is rightly proud of his achievements – paddling in the sea and going to a treetop adventure area.

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Requires improvement

In other areas, young people’s progress is variable. Some young people make good progress in key areas, including their health, education and self-esteem. Professionals are positive about this. For example, a social worker commented, ‘Staff support him really well. They have been instrumental in him settling at school.’ Because of this, the young person achieves more academically. Other young people do not always get the help they need. Specifically, staff do not adequately assist them to develop the skills they need to live independently. They do not prepare young people far enough in advance of key meetings or events, and they are not always clear about their expectations or the structure of the day. Consequently, young people ‘drift’, or go out to spend time with friends when they should be at other appointments.

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Requires improvement

Staff have recently redecorated some areas of the home. In contrast, one young person’s bedroom is poorly furnished and maintained. Staff do not provide him with enough help to improve this. As a result, the environment is unwelcoming and uncomfortable. This affects his day-to-day experiences and his sense of self-worth.

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Requires improvement

Staff and managers routinely seek young people’s views and use them to inform the service they receive. One outcome of this is that young people stay in touch with the people most important to them, and in a safe way. At other times, young people express wishes that may not be in their best interests, for example getting tattoos at a young age. Staff do not always explore these views adequately with young people or their families. This prevents them from appropriately balancing young people’s wishes against what staff judge to be in their best interests. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

Staff generally understand the risks that young people face. They are knowledgeable about the danger of child sexual exploitation and take appropriate action when young people go missing. A social worker confirms this, stating, ‘They keep an eye on him. They keep him safe.’ As a result, incidents of going missing significantly decrease for some young people.

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Requires improvement

Staff offer sensitive support to young people who may harm themselves and they engage well with specialist mental health services if required. Young people are safer as a result.

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Requires improvement

The processes for managing young people’s medication are weak. On one occasion, this led to a young person receiving his medication at the incorrect time. This had the potential to place his physical health at risk. The assistant manager took swift action to rectify the error, limiting the effect on that occasion.

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Requires improvement

The response of staff to challenging or difficult behaviour is variable. Some staff respond well and work with young people to help them manage their emotions. At other times, staff respond inappropriately. Sanctions are used in response to negative behaviour. These are not always restorative in nature. Consequently, they do not help young people to think about the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. On one occasion, a sanction was unreasonable. Specifically, a young person forfeited their Christmas money during an incident of poor behaviour in July. This was a particularly harsh measure given the young person’s age and level of understanding. In addition, staff do not evaluate the effectiveness of the measures used. This prevents them from ascertaining their impact and usefulness, or identifying when their approach may need to change. Recording in this area also requires improvement. Specifically, records lack clarity and are

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Requires improvement

insufficiently detailed. This hampers effective oversight and is not useful to young people who may wish to read their records in the future.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager is in the process of leaving the home. A new manager has very recently taken over. He is suitably qualified and experienced, and is currently registering with Ofsted. The staff team is well qualified and all members of the staff team hold the required level 3 diploma in residential childcare or a suitable equivalent. Managers generally support staff well through effective supervision and team meetings. This ensures that staff feel valued, and it confirms that they are able to deliver the overarching aims and objectives set out in the home’s statement of purpose. In contrast, staff cannot access some of the specialist training they need in a timely way. Specifically, managers identified the need for training around in sexually harmful behaviour. This training was not in place for seven months. This delay reduced the information available to staff and affected their confidence in this area.

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Requires improvement

Management oversight is mixed. Some aspects are strong. Managers use monthly monitoring checks to review a number of key areas effectively. This helps them to track some elements of young people’s progress, highlight weaknesses and produce clear action plans. In other areas, managers fail to identify shortfalls in a timely way. Furthermore, they have not addressed weaknesses identified at previous inspections of this home, and other homes in the group. These include the previously outlined shortfalls in medication processes, training and some aspects of the physical environment. It also applies to the vetting of new staff. Overall, recruitment practices have significantly improved. Most staff are well vetted prior to starting employment. However, the recruitment file for one member of staff does not evidence that all the required checks have been properly undertaken. Specifically, gaps in employment history were not adequately explored, nor were

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Requires improvement

the reasons for leaving previous employment. In addition, managers did not sufficiently explore key information provided by referees. This fails to prioritise young people’s needs and does not safeguard them from potentially unsafe adults working in their home.

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Requires improvement

Managers and staff have developed good relationships with a wide range of other agencies, including health, education and social care. This enables them to challenge other professionals appropriately when this is required. They have also developed strong links with young people’s families when this is possible. This means that young people generally receive consistent messages about their care.

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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 that 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 that 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, 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,

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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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