Children's Home run by Kingston upon Hull City Council in Kingston upon Hull

inspection

Six compliance notices and one restriction notice were issued as a result of the last full inspection. A monitoring visit was undertaken at the same time as the second full inspection on 19/09/2016 and 20/09/2016 to assess the improvements made with regard to the following regulations: Regulation 5 Regulation 6 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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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 An inadequate judgement was made at the last inspection. Since then, senior managers have taken full responsibility for the strategic management failures for instructing the registered manager to accept inappropriate placements. The responsible individual has since given clear assurances to the registered manager and Ofsted that this poor and unsafe practice will not happen again.  A restriction notice limiting further placements has been lifted and no new placements have been made. This has resulted in a safer, more manageable environment for the current group of young people.  The positive action taken to address the six compliance notices and several requirements raised at the last inspection are met to a suitable standard. This demonstrates the home‟s capacity to improve. The compliance notice steps in relation to the condition of the premises and notifications to Ofsted are not fully resolved. These are subject to requirements.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Written risk management plans in relation to young people‟s access to the roof, their involvement in leisure activities and an oversight of the potential for bullying behaviours in the home are yet to be developed.  The manager has resumed his focus on reinstating good childcare practices now that he is empowered to do so. This enables better management oversight and champions measurable outcomes for young people.  Communication with other professionals and parents has improved.

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The children's home strengths

 Staff spend time with the young people and can monitor and better safeguard them in the home. This is helping to rebuild some fractured relationships and ensures that young people have adults that they can talk to.  The promotion of young people‟s wishes and feelings and the range of discussions with them promote the „voice of the child‟ and show that staff care about them.  Young people improve their life chances through their regular school attendance, which, although show signs of promise, will need time to embed.  Staff talk to young people about their safety and welfare. The staff team‟s capacity to actively search for young people who go missing from the home supports their working relationships with the police to secure young people‟s safe and well return.  The manager and staff team have ceased firefighting negative and risky behaviours and have reclaimed their position to meet the young people‟s

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The children's home strengths

diverse and complex needs as a consequence of the changes made. This has improved team morale and gives them a good opportunity to deliver a consistently good standard of care that places young people at the centre of their practice.

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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 In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, with particular reference to completing the decoration throughout the home, that furniture is replaced and fixtures and fittings contribute to providing high-quality and homely accommodation (2) the registered person is required to— (b) ensure that staff— (vii) provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. 31/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— (e) there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4) (e)). Specifically in relation to the registered manager continuing to review his safeguarding thresholds with respect to serious incidents in the home. 31/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”). 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(3)(5)). 30/09/2016

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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

 Staff should be familiar with the home's policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be 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). Specifically, in relation to developing outcome-based care plans and risk assessments that also include the risks associated with climbing the roof, activities and oversight of the potential for bullying behaviour in the home.  The registered manager should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the above principles as set out in paragraph 9.35 are respected. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 46, paragraph 9.36). Specifically, make clear the effectiveness of sanctions and

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Recommendations

consistently seek to and incorporate young people‟s views into the documentation.  Each home must have clear arrangements in place to maintain effective management when the manager is absent, off duty or on leave. Specifically, in relation to notifying Ofsted about all serious incidents under Regulation 40. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 54, paragraph 10.20)

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and run by a local authority. It is registered to look after a maximum of six children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 27/07/2016 Full Inadequate 04/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/11/2015 Full Requires improvement 09/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Since the last inspection, and in response to the compliance and restriction notices issued to the provider, the responsible individual, registered manager and senior managers now have an explicit understanding of the importance of making appropriate placements that promote and influence young people‟s safety, experiences and outcomes. Consequently, there have been no new admissions since the last inspection. The discharge of three young people has resulted in a relatively smaller, but safer, group dynamic. After a period of dwindling progress, the three existing young people are starting to re-engage with staff who have more time to attend to their needs and monitor their activities. Staff say that they no longer feel that they are „firefighting‟ with the young people‟s behaviours. They have reclaimed their position to meet the young people‟s diverse and complex needs with improved forethought. One member of staff said, „Staff were down and they were firefighting.‟ Another

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Requires improvement

said, „There is no comparison now, it‟s calm.‟ Young people improve their life chances through their regular school attendance, which following the summer break shows signs of promise and will need time to embed. A social worker who described a young person‟s school attendance as „hit and miss‟ acknowledges their good educational attendance. Some young people are progressing well in specific subject areas, such as English and mathematics, and the praise from staff shows that they are interested, which recognises the young people‟s achievements and boosts their confidence. Staff discourage those young people who smoke and misuse substances, but their interventions are yet to have the desired impact, which does not bode well for young people‟s health outcomes. In spite of this, the positive working relationships shared between the staff team and health professionals make for accessible services to young people when they need it and enables them to make informed

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Requires improvement

choices. Staff encourage and facilitate young people‟s attendance at routine health appointments and their interventions with specialist health services help them to start to recognise and seek to address specific risky behaviours. A clinical psychologist continues to facilitate the meeting of young people‟s emotional and behavioural needs through their support and guidance to the staff team. Staff members‟ skills of engagement, coupled with their reliable, caring and nurturing interactions with the young people, enables them to talk candidly about topics that impact on their daily and personal lives. Listening to young people‟s wishes and feelings and acting on them with respect to the daily running of the home, consequences to poor behaviour and future plans promote the voice of the child. It also respects their point of view even when the outcome is not in their favour. Key work sessions are borne from these occasions and when fully up and

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Requires improvement

running should support their placement plans. Independent visitors remain in contact with those young people who have them, which promotes consistency in their lives. Staff encourage young people‟s independence, which empowers them to do more for themselves. They are involved in menu planning and can prepare drinks, meals and snacks. Young people are encouraged and supported to keep their rooms tidy and they have capacity to make positive choices, teaching them valuable social skills for later life. Young people benefit from activities that allow them to socially integrate and relax, such as day trips out to the coast, playing sports of their choice as well as playing pool and electronic games while in the home. The staff team promotes young people‟s cultural, identity and family connections through their contact with those family members and carers who they consider to be important in their lives. Newly revived relationships between some young people

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Requires improvement

and those that they consider to be family, create opportunities for future contact.

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Requires improvement

The action taken in response to the compliance and restriction of accommodation notices has improved young people‟s safety and welfare. Specifically, having fewer young people living in the home has reduced incidents resultant of challenging behaviours, which at its most serious during the summer holidays continued to attract police attention. Incidents included young people climbing on the roof and throwing slates, assaulting staff and young people, barricading a professional in their car preventing them from leaving and a young person made a second allegation of a sexual nature. Senior management investigation outcomes shared with Ofsted, include the lessons learned that link to the limitation in staffing numbers with insufficient capacity to adequately safeguard the group of young people. No further serious incidents of this nature have occurred since August 2016 and no more allegations have come to light.

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Requires improvement

Fewer placements have improved the staff team‟s ability to manage the current young people‟s challenging and complex behaviours with a reduced need for police intervention. The staff team‟s availability to monitor and give young people more attention than they could previously has improved. Individual discussions between the young people, staff and social workers about their negative behaviours encourage them to understand how their disruptive and bullying behaviours can seriously hurt others. This helps them to reflect and take responsibility for their actions and reinstate boundaries. This has to some extent supported the status quo, resulting in isolated incidents and no recent signs of bullying behaviour. Physical interventions are minimal which reflect the positive, restorative strategies used by the team. Sanctions are used to stimulate positive behaviours. However, the records do not consistently include the young people‟s views and the

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Requires improvement

effectiveness of the measure is not clear. The lack of management oversight still does not provide regular scrutiny to ensure their fair and proportionate use. Improved risk management systems ensure that the individual risks presented by young people are current and informs practice. Risk management plans in relation to young people‟s access to the roof, their involvement in leisure activities and an oversight of the potential for bullying behaviours in the home are yet to be developed. Staff have a clear understanding of risk and they talk to young people about keeping safe from a range of threats to their health and well-being. Furthermore, the staff team‟s capacity to actively search for young people who go missing from the home assists their working relationships with the police to safely locate them. The young people do not take up return home interviews, despite the offers made, and their missing episodes are monitored. None of the current young

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Requires improvement

people are believed to be at risk of child sexual exploitation.

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Requires improvement

The manager is a qualified social worker who has held registered management responsibility since March 2010 and has relevant childcare experience. The responsible individual and senior managers in the local authority have worked with Ofsted following the inadequate judgement. They have demonstrated a clear acceptance of the strategic management failures that did undermine young people‟s safety and welfare. They have given a clear undertaking that such poor, unsafe practices will not happen again and they are taking the matter seriously. Their quick response to address the issues raised in the compliance and restriction notices has made the home a relatively safer place for young people to live. To assist the improvement agenda, a „task and finish‟ group has been set up that promotes corporate parenting by sharing valuable resources and responsibility with other local authority partners to improve service delivery in the homes.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has a clearer understanding of his role and responsibilities. He now fully understands the implications of not complying with his registration, which empowers him to challenge senior managers in the future should he feel forced to not comply with the statement of purpose. In response to the restriction notice issued to the provider, the manager has not accepted any new placements. His recent refusal to accept a placement with a suitable impact risk assessment shows he is taking the matter very seriously. He is starting as he means to go on by only accepting placements that comply with the revised statement of purpose that now clarifies the facilitation of emergency placements. Ofsted are not able to fully carry out its safeguarding duties because not all notifications have been sent to the regulator in the absence of the manager. A good practice recommendation is raised to help improve this area and a repeat of

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Requires improvement

the requirement set at the last inspection intends to ensure consistent safeguarding thresholds are established and maintained. The premises are now deemed safer than at the previous inspection. The manager has compiled an audit, identifying the repairs and maintenance needed around the home. A dedicated member of staff has been painting and decorating the home, improving the appearance since the last inspection. A member of staff said, „It‟s given everyone a real breather, getting the house decorated and new stuff in.‟ Newly decorated bedrooms involve the young people personalising them and new furniture will replace the old furniture once the decoration is completed. Improvements to the bathroom areas have been limited and they continue to lack a comfortable and homely feel. A requirement is raised to stimulate improvement in this area. Fewer placements have maximised current staffing capacity. This allows for more

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Requires improvement

proactive interactions with young people and the rebuilding of relationships to promote their welfare and help them to reach their potential. Staff morale has improved and there is a notable relaxed and calming ambiance in the home even when young people‟s behaviours have escalated or if issues arise. Regular staff supervision and daily handovers have maintained team communication and the team‟s ability to remain resilient during challenging times is a credit to them. External monitoring reports contain more detail and evaluation, and in the most recent report it made clear that young people were not safe following a number of serious incidents in the home over the summer period. The report raised a number of recommendations to help the manager make continuous improvement. However, this system needs to embed and consistently meet the regulations. The manager‟s six-monthly review of care has started to focus on reinstating good

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Requires improvement

practices that have fallen by the wayside as a result of needing to support staff to „firefight‟ incidents in the home that impeded his management oversight. Examples of his current plans include fully implementing the new evidence and outcome- based care plans and to continue to improve collaborations with other professional colleagues by way of setting up regular core group meetings. This further promotes engagement with the wider systems to meet all young people‟s needs. The current residential review within the local authority will determine the future operation of this children‟s 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‟.

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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 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 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

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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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