Children's home SC032723

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:

 There are a number of shortfalls in leadership and management. These relate to: monitoring of records; auditing; and evaluation and progression of young people’s placement plans. As a result, the young people are not fulfilling their potential.  The managers and staff need to ensure that individual risk assessments and support plans are robustly followed. These need to focus on young people’s social development to ensure that safeguarding measures accord with individual young people’s progression.  Managers are not providing staff with practice guidance that supports young people’s developmental progress.  The young people are not consistently involved in their plans  The supervision of the manager and staff is not reflective and includes limited discussion about practice. The appraisals do not demonstrate an understanding of personal development in progressing outcomes for the young people.

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The children's home strengths

 The managers and staff work closely with parents and carers so that relationships are built upon trust and respect.  The young people have very good relationships with the staff and are relaxed in their company and, as a result, they interact positively.  Staff understand the complex nature of the young people’s disabilities and endeavour to provide a range of activities in the community, ensuring that they are safeguarded at all times.  The managers and staff ensure that the young people’s short breaks are provided with warmth, care and attention to individual needs.  The young people are comfortable in their environment and share positive experiences with their peers, maintaining friendships through careful planning of their short breaks.  The manager ensures that staffing ratios are good and are responsive to individual requirements.

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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. In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, with particular reference to children receiving care from staff who:

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Requirement Due date

(1)(a) understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children

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Requirement Due date

(b) use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to –

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Requirement Due date

(a) understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose

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Requirement Due date

(i) understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose

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Requirement Due date

(ii) protect and promote each child’s welfare. 04/01/2017

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Requirement Due date

12. In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular reference to assessing the full range of potential risks to each child, the registered person must ensure:

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Requirement Due date

(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

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Requirement Due date

(ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe

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Requirement Due date

(v) understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person 04/01/2017 (b) that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm

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Requirement Due date

(d) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. 13. In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person:

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Requirement Due date

(1) enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that –

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Requirement Due date

(a) helps children aspire to fulfil their potential

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to –

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Requirement Due date

(f) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home

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Requirement Due date

(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 04/01/2017

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Requirement Due date

14. In order to meet the care planning standard, with particular reference to recording and evaluating children’s progress against identified objectives, the registered person must ensure that children:

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Requirement Due date

(a) receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

(2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure:

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Requirement Due date

(c) that each child’s relevant plans are followed. 04/01/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry). (Regulation 14/12/2016 40 (4)(d)(i)(ii))

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Information about this children's home

The home provides accommodation for up to seven children with sensory impairment, learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities. It is operated by a local authority.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 09/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/08/2015 Full Good 17/02/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/07/2014 Full Good

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Requires improvement

Staff work closely with parents and carers to ensure that they have all information prior to any young person receiving a short break. Care plans are individual and personal to each young person to ensure continuity of care. One parent said, ‘Staff were brilliant at easing him in, they were always on the phone to reassure us and provide us with peace of mind. I can phone him before bed to wish him goodnight.’

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Requires improvement

The young people have very good relationships with staff. The young people are relaxed in their company and interact well. They are also supported to express their views through their communication aids, enabling them to make choices in their lives regardless of their disability. The young people were observed deciding on the evening’s activity. They were full of joy and humour interacting with staff using ‘banter’ appropriately. The staff ensured that all the young people present were provided with an opportunity to decide what they wished to do, being mindful of the young people present who were unable to express their view verbally. The more able young people present were very respectful of others less able and endeavoured to ensure that their views were heard.

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Requires improvement

The staff work closely with parents to ensure that all medication is correct when the young person arrives for their stay. Their knowledge and awareness of each young person’s individual needs is enhanced by the relationships that they have built up with parents and by observations of the young people. Arrangements for the receipt, administration and storage of medication is good. Staff are mindful of providing personal care sensitively to ensure that young people’s dignity and privacy is respected. However, there is no system in place to provide oversight and auditing of medication.

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Requires improvement

The young people are provided with a range of activities which offer a wealth of opportunities to engage in the wider community. Photographs are displayed throughout the home, clearly showing happy faces enjoying experiences with staff and their peers. Personalised interests, such as football, have enabled young people to be a part of the community, providing a sense of local identity that they can participate in. This creates a sense of belonging and well-being.

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Requires improvement

The staff celebrate and recognise children and young people’s achievements verbally. However, there are a number of shortfalls in recording practices. Residential placement plans are vague and do not direct staff about how to care for the young person. Desired outcomes and achievement plans are another example of not providing specific steps to be made to support a young person in their development. Therefore, progress in relation to outcomes cannot be effectively monitored and evaluated.

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Requires improvement

The staff are able to verbalise risks associated with the young people. The staffing ratios are good and staff have a thorough understanding of each child’s needs in order to effectively support them. Young people were able to express that they are comfortable in the care of the staff. One young person said, ‘Staff are mint.’ However, the staff need to be aware when admitting a young person to the service that they do not overlook the possibility of a young person’s possible sources of harm. Staff must be vigilant and aware of not only the young person’s safeguarding but also of their own.

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Requires improvement

The risk assessments and the support plans are not robust around individual young people’s known and unknown risks. Care plans do not reflect what information is provided by parents and professionals to assess impact and progress outcomes for young people. There is limited evidence recorded within personal plans to indicate how staff inform young people about personal safety. Staff do not routinely complete key-worker sessions with young people who attend on a regular basis and, therefore, developmental goals are not completed around known risks. Consequently, young people are not supported to develop an awareness of risks associated with, for example, traffic, roads and strangers.

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Requires improvement

The inspector found that in several plans the word ‘monitoring’ was used in association with risks and plans for young people. This has many interpretations when talking about individuals. Management and staff need to be specific when detailing actions to address risk-associated behaviours to ensure that robust support is provided to young people.

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Requires improvement

Waking night staff complete checks every 20 minutes, offering care to those who need it throughout the night. There are sufficient staff on duty at any one time to ensure that all young people are safeguarded within the home and on activities. The young people are supported in their environment and are able to access the outside play area, which is safely enclosed. This allows the young people freedom to move around within a safe environment, enhancing their independence and self- esteem. Judgement grade

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Inadequate

The registered manager is suitably qualified and has significant experience of working with children and young people with disabilities. During the inspection, the deputy manager was in charge. Although very experienced, she was unable to demonstrate a clear understanding of what is required in young people’s care plans, or a comprehensive understanding of safeguarding. A notifiable incident had not been reported to HMCI. The deputy manager was aware of the incident but was unable to explain why it had not been forwarded to the regulator. The recording of the incident was not sufficient and did not detail the outcome.

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Inadequate

Previous inspections highlighted the need for robust quality assurance measures. There is evidence of this being addressed, but previously noted inconsistencies continue. The staff are not provided with practice guidance that supports the young person’s developmental progress. There is little evidence to support whether young people are progressing and what impact their stay is having on them.

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Inadequate

Staff meetings are held monthly but do not show evidence of management efforts to change practice. The young people are discussed but this is not consistent. Minutes do not routinely record actions and are, therefore, ineffective in respect of creating change and planning for improvements in practice. In addition, they indicate that one-to-one sessions with the young people were to begin in July but this was not evidenced during the inspection. This means that plans for the young people cannot be progressed and the involvement of young people in their plans is not identifiable. Opportunity to raise self-esteem and well-being for young people is being missed.

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Inadequate

The manager and staff recognised that they needed to improve on their recording skills when discussing residential placement plans and risk assessments. However, it was not always apparent that they understood the importance of maintaining young people’s developmental needs during their short breaks as well as enabling them to enjoy their stays socially.

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Inadequate

The new system of supervision has now been embedded fully and has improved in regularity. Staff said that they received monthly supervision which was described as being ‘reflective generally’. There was limited evidence of practice discussion within supervision and appraisals. Although regular, they did not demonstrate an understanding of personal development in progressing outcomes for young people. Appraisals reviewed during the inspection centred heavily on providing a positive experience for young people and families accessing the service through activities, but nothing about educating and preparing them for a level of independence where the young people were identified as being able to develop such skills. The young person’s guide is in many accessible formats – there is a DVD and a Widgit form of the guide. This provides young people and their parents/carers with information on how to make a complaint or access advocacy if required. The young

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Inadequate

people’s meetings are held monthly and show that their views, when requesting activities in particular, are responded to by staff. This provides the young people with a voice in their lives and supports their well-being and independent decision- making as well as debating skills.

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Inadequate

Managers and staff unquestionably work in partnership with parents and health professionals. One parent described the service provided for her child as a ‘godsend’ and said that ‘staff are unbelievable, any problems they support’. The same parent stated that her child had been receiving short breaks for many years and has no understanding of danger. This is a good example of the strength and the weakness of the provision. The managers understand and are able to identify weaknesses but do not take decisive and effective action to enable staff to provide the best possible care for young people to reach their full potential.

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Inadequate

There is good evidence of supporting school transport and working with social workers. One social worker described how staff have done ‘really well’ with the young person, who is starting to interact with another young person, something that has never been seen before, and that the young person ‘loves it’.

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Inadequate

The building itself is showing signs of wear and tear and requires a number of maintenance tasks to be completed, notably the dimmer switches and a bathroom flooring, which have been reported. The overall feel of the home was warm and friendly. The young people’s rooms were individualised, and there was a Christmas theme throughout, which was lovely. The home benefits from a sensory room, which is well maintained, and an excellent outdoor play area with a wheelchair swing and a bucket swing. Young people clearly enjoy coming to stay.

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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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