Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Young people benefit from the consistent care of staff who are nurturing and aspire for them to do well.  The achievements in young people’s lives are recognised and celebrated.  Young people have and enjoy opportunities to take part in social and leisure activities that broaden their life experiences.  Staff promote the importance of learning to support young people into adulthood.  Staff know the vulnerabilities specific to each young person and implement safeguards to protect them from harm.  Staff work collaboratively with other professionals and agencies to ensure that young people receive good support, guidance and care to promote their well-being.  Young people benefit from strong, trusting relationships with staff. This helps them to take on board the guidance and support offered to them.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions, which must be taken so that the registered person 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 must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safe keeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. In particular, the registered person must ensure that: - prescribed medicine is administered as prescribed, to the child for whom it is prescribed and to no other child; - a record is kept of the administration of medicine to each child. (Regulation 23(1)(2)(b)(c)) In particular, administer medication as prescribed, with suitable detailed recording, giving explanations if medication is not administered for a specific reason. 28/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that: - within 24 hours of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home a record is made which includes the name of the person who used the measure and of any other person present when the measure was used; - within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so, has spoken to the user about the measure, and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; - within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person, or authorised persons, adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(a)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 28/12/2016

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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)) In particular, ensure that all staff (including casual workers) receive supervision at the stipulated intervals as set out in the home’s policy, and that all recording details and demonstrates practice-related discussions. 28/12/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experience of children living there, and the impact the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children. Reviews should be underpinned by the Quality Standards as described in regulations 5 to 14. ('Guide to the children's home regulations including the quality standards', page 64, paragraph 15.2) In particular, further develop and improve the regulation 45 report to reflect the above statement. In addition, further improve auditing systems so that they more quickly detect shortfalls in records, training, medication and care planning.

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Information about this children's home

This local authority children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to eight young people who may be experiencing a range of emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 02/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/07/2015 Full Good 10/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/09/2014 Full Good

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Good

Young people say this is a good place to live. A young person said: ‘The best thing about here is the staff; I can talk to any of them.’ Young people successfully respond to the positive relationships forged with staff. Young people’s progress, measured from their starting point, is good. They have formed positive attachments, and attendance at school has increased. Each one is more emotionally settled, and their health and well-being have improved.

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Good

Young people give their views in a number of forums. These include conversations and discussion with staff, within key-work sessions, at young people’s meetings and at their statutory reviews. Young people have opportunities to access and speak with advocates when they wish. This gives young people a voice, to make decisions and choices about things that affect their lives, both now and in the future.

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Good

Young people gain a range of independence skills, appropriate to their age. This is achieved by the continual support and guidance from staff. They learn how to cook, budget, carry out household chores and make independent travel arrangements.

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Good

Young people enjoy and take part in a number of social and leisure activities. A young person said: ‘This summer’s holiday was great, really good.’ These experiences help to build young people’s social skills and confidence, and provide them with positive life experiences.

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Good

Young people have regular family contact, with good support from the staff. Young people visit family members and make telephone calls to them when they so wish. This enables young people to maintain support networks, and keeps them in touch with those who are important to them.

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Good

Young people, in the main, receive medication in line with the doctor’s instructions, to support and maintain good health. However, on occasion, medication has not been administered as prescribed, nor a record made with an explanation of why the doctor’s instructions have not been followed. Daily auditing has not detected these deficits. This could negatively affect the health outcomes for the particular young person concerned. Judgement grade

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Good

Young people benefit from a caring staff team that supports them to keep safe. A young person said: ‘I’m safe here; staff do talk to us a lot about keeping ourselves safe.’ Another said: ‘Bullying is not allowed; staff stop this if anyone starts to be unkind.’

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Good

Staff understand the vulnerabilities of each young person and the measures needed to protect them from harm. Young people receive good support and guidance to inform them of any potential risks and dangers. For those young people with a history of going missing, these instances have reduced. Staff work closely with other agencies to safeguard young people more effectively. For example, staff liaise with the youth offending team, the police, the child exploitation team and the missing from care officer. This assists in keeping young people safer.

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Good

Young people respond well to a consistent care approach, where they have clear rules and boundaries. This includes bedtime routines, and set times for returning home in the evening, appropriate to their age. Through positive role-modelling, staff instil good manners, respect for each other, and clear expectations about positive behaviour.

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Good

Young people receive constant praise for positive behaviour, and rewards. As a result, young people’s behaviour improves. Physical restraint is a rare occurrence. However, not all restraint records detail the required information, as set out in the regulations and guidance, and monitoring systems have failed to detect these omissions. This makes it difficult for the manager to ascertain that physical restraint has been carried out safely.

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Good

The manager is currently registering with Ofsted. She has the relevant experience and qualifications to hold this position. Presently, she is extending her qualifications by undertaking the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare. Staff and professionals report that the manager is child-centred in her approach, and is committed to further improving the quality of care provided to young people. Staff support and intervention reflect the aims of the home’s statement of purpose.

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Good

The manager demonstrates a clear understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. A number of shortfalls detected during the inspection have already been highlighted by the manager and senior team as areas requiring improvement. This indicates that there is a strong intention to address these deficits in order to further improve the quality of care for young people.

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Good

Staff benefit from the good management support. A staff member said, ‘X is very approachable, always calm and provides solutions to matters that arise. This is really helpful.’ Staff do receive formal supervision and training. However, not all staff have received supervision at the required frequency. The detail of these records varies, and does not always demonstrate reflective practice. Mandatory training is not always refreshed within the agreed timeframes. This falls short of ensuring that all staff practice and knowledge is current. This could affect the quality of care provided.

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Good

There is a proactive approach to working with other agencies and professionals. Social workers, the child sexual exploitation team and education providers report that they have good working relationships with the staff. This supports the staff’s endeavours to improve the outcomes for young people in their care.

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Good

The regulation 44 visitor monitors the service thoroughly, routinely noting areas for improvement. There are a number of other auditing systems to support the continual development and improvement in the quality of care provided. However, these systems have not been effective in identifying the shortfalls identified in this inspection.

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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

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

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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