Children's Home run by Wakefield Council in Wakefield

Good

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

p.2

The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people benefit from living in a caring, nurturing and comfortable home. Friendly and motivated staff act as ‘good parents’ and provide good care. They understand the young people and can meet their individual needs.  Young people’s safety and welfare are central to care practices.  The strong partnerships with safeguarding professionals, parents and other interested parties disrupt some young people’s high risk-taking behaviours and help them to access the services they need.  The time that staff spend talking to young people about issues of concern informs them about the consequences of their behaviours.  The promotion of young people’s education, health, leisure, contact and independence provides good opportunities for young people to make the best of their time at the home and to gain the right knowledge and skills to prosper.  Staff listen to young people’s wishes and feelings, which values them; this is

p.3

The children’s home provision is good because:

key to the good care and protection of young people.  A well-led, skilled and experienced staff team benefits from good support that informs their practice and promotes an aspirational service that provides opportunities for all young people to succeed.

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard (2) In order to meet the leadership and management standard with particular reference to ceasing the propping open of fire doors, ensuring consistently robust impact risk assessments, sanctions that include young people’s comments and restraint records being appropriately signed off when they involve the registered manager, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 28/02/2017

p.4

Recommendation

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

p.4

Recommendation

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2).

p.4

Recommendation

Specifically, supervision records should be recorded in a detail that is reflective of staff practice.

p.4

Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to seven young people, irrespective of gender, who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The main aims are to support young people to move back home with their families or to move on successfully to independent living.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 12/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/10/2015 Full Good 02/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/10/2014 Full Good

p.5

Good

The individualised and nurturing care provided to the young people results in them making some firm bonds with a number of members of staff who care about them. Such relationships liken staff to ‘good parents’ who have high aspirations for the young people and take a keen interest in their progress and welfare. Consequently, most young people comply with the home’s firm boundaries and they can share their feelings. Those young people who choose not to respond to staff advice and support show improved engagement with their plans. The help provided to young people who are harder to engage is pursued by staff who clearly want the best for them. A social worker consulted by the home said, ‘The team at [Name of the home] were a big part of [Name of the young person] life for a long period of time and I know she still regards you all with very high regard and is grateful for your support.’

p.6

Good

Listening to young people’s wishes and feelings enables their reasonable requests to be actioned, which respects and values their point of view. Staff act as good advocates, which supports young people’s decisions.

p.6

Good

Staff value the importance of a good education, which is role-modelled by the registered manager who has taken up a school governor position at an unrelated school. This empowers her to learn about school systems and to challenge appropriately any barriers to the young people’s success. The staff team works hard to ensure that young people attend their education and apprentice provisions, supporting their learning, interests and goals. The staff team’s communication with education providers monitors some young people’s fluctuating attendance. The aim is to improve the young people’s attendance and attainment so that they can prosper.

p.6

Good

Young people’s access to primary and specialist healthcare services meets their diverse health needs. As a result, young people have not experienced ill health. Effective use is made of health professionals’ support staff to address well-being issues, such as smoking, drug and alcohol misuse and sexual health matters. Contact from the children looked after’s nurse provides opportunities for young people and staff to discuss health matters. The nurse said, ‘They are absolutely brilliant. The staff are really, really good.’ The staff team’s regular contact with the child and adolescent mental health team ensures that the advice and support offered meets young people’s emotional and psychological health needs.

p.6

Good

Young people’s medication management is good. In one example, concerns raised by staff with a relevant medical professional about the high dosage of medication administered to a young person resulted in a lower dosage. This has improved the young person’s quality of life.

p.6

Good

A range of leisure opportunities entice young people to participate in activities that they enjoy. For example, young people play football, go swimming, visit the skate- park and activity clubs and go away on holidays. Playing board games, using the computer and engaging with a range of indoor activities encourages young people to stay in. Appropriate friends are welcome to visit the home and staff facilitate activities involving young people’s friends. This mirrors family life.

p.7

Good

The contact between young people and their families reinforces their sense of identity. Furthermore, the staff team’s good relationships with parents provide a clear message to young people that their families and carers are working together to safeguard their welfare.

p.7

Good

Young people develop a good range of independence skills. For example, they learn self-care skills and how to clean, cook, learn socially acceptable behaviours and travel independently. Some young people have moved to supported lodgings. Staff continue to give support, which provides them with a lifeline.

p.7

Good

Young people are welcomed into a pleasant and spacious abode that provides them with a safe habitat. Talented and creative staff involve the young people in making exceedingly good artwork that suits their individual tastes. These works are prominent in their highly individualised rooms and in communal areas.

p.7

Good

Vigilant staff promote young people’s safety and welfare effectively. Strong partnerships with safeguarding professionals, parents and other interested parties ensure robust risk management of young people’s vulnerabilities.

p.7

Good

The ‘team around the child’ approach is helping to disrupt some young people’s high risk-taking behaviours. These are associated with young people missing, associating with unsafe people and the risk of child sexual exploitation. Police officers tackling child sexual exploitation report good relationships with the home. They say that staff are proactive and they always attend the multi-agency strategy meetings. One police officer said, ‘We have nothing but good things to say about them.’ Consequently, young people are safer due to the close monitoring of their activities. Most parents and professionals are of the view that the staff team does all it can to keep young people safe. A social worker consulted by the home said, ‘I feel that the young person I am working with who is resident is in safe hands.’ The staff are highly responsive when young people go missing. They work closely with the police and follow the correct protocols to ensure that young people return

p.7

Good

home as quickly as possible. Although some young people choose not to engage in return home interviews, the visits from an independent adult provide opportunities for them to speak about the reasons for going missing. There have been positive outcomes for young people who have stopped going missing and have successfully maintained this stance for several months. Staff talk to young people about keeping themselves safe. This includes engaging with some young people about how their unsafe behaviours could lead to their involvement in the criminal justice system.

p.8

Good

Young people who are already involved in the criminal justice system receive excellent support from well-informed staff who have acted as good appropriate adults. This ensures that young people understand the legal process and their rights.

p.8

Good

The staff team takes bullying behaviour very seriously and any incidents are escalated to strategy meetings. This gives young people a clear message that bullying is not acceptable and is acted on.

p.8

Good

Young people’s improved behaviour is testament to some of their developed relationships with staff and the de-escalation skills of the staff team. Consequently, young people are showing that they can control their emotions constructively. Physical intervention is low. The one intervention involved the registered manager. However, there was no independent oversight of the measure to ensure a transparent process, given her involvement.

p.8

Good

Thorough recruitment and vetting checks on new staff ensure the protection of young people from unsuitable adults who may pose a risk to them.

p.8

Requires improvement

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2015. She is appropriately qualified and experienced to undertake this role. She is highly child focused and shows a firm commitment to working with young people and the team around them to ensure that young people’s life chances improve from their starting points. The registered manager leads by example and, along with the dedicated staff team, shows high aspirations for young people to achieve. Proactive senior management support the registered manager’s improvement plans and her own personal development. The registered manager has a good understanding of most of the home’s strengths and areas for improvement and she makes good use of the monthly independent visits. Nonetheless, she has missed opportunities to strengthen some aspects of practice. For example, her insufficiently robust response and recording of a staff conduct issue has led to untimely and disorganised action. The registered manager

p.8

Requires improvement

has given a firm undertaking to notify Ofsted of the outcome of this concern and the further allegations made by young people during the inspection. She regularly provides notifications about other significant events, which enable Ofsted to carry out its regulatory duties.

p.9

Requires improvement

Staff use the practice of turning off the electricity supply to the bedrooms. The manager has set out in writing that this institutional practice must cease. The propping open the kitchen fire door still takes place, despite it having a self-closing device. In the event of a fire, this practice could present a serious hazard to everyone on the premises.

p.9

Requires improvement

Young people’s comments following the imposition of a sanction do not indicate their views on whether or not they believe the measure to be fair. This does not promote reflection or transparency. Impact risk assessments do not refer to the presenting risks between the existing young people in the home. This does not enable staff to satisfy themselves that the risk-management strategies protect all of the young people.

p.9

Requires improvement

Not all staff supervision records show consistently reflective discussions. It is therefore not clear how staff share their thoughts on practice issues. Despite this shortfall, staff benefit from good management and peer support and good team communication by way of regular supervisions, team meetings, handovers and impromptu discussions. Consequently, staff are well established, motivated and confident in their roles. Staff training and development updates inform their knowledge and practice, keeping them in touch with current issues.

p.9

Requires improvement

The registered manager and staff have some exceptionally good relationships with a number of parents, other providers, social workers and health and education professionals. This ensures effective information sharing and appropriate challenge that promote and safeguard young people’s safety and welfare. A social worker who was recently consulted by the home said, ‘[Name of the home] is one of the best children’s homes that I have worked with. Staff are always able to provide information about the young person, which demonstrates insight and a good understanding of their needs.’

p.9

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

p.10

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 that result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

p.10

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

p.11

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 .

p.11

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,

p.12

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.12

Information about this inspection

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

p.12

Information about this inspection

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

p.12